Gainesville woman addresses domestic violence in upcoming Florida bill
State audit finds overall unnecessary spending under former UF President Ben Sasse
Sasse’s expenditures included more than $300,000 in private jet flights
By Garrett Shanley Alligator Staff Writer
A preliminary report from the Florida Auditor General found UF failed to prevent former President Ben Sasse from leveraging his executive privileges to inappropriately spend university funds.
The Florida Auditor General’s report, obtained by The Alligator, revealed new details about Sasse’s spending practices, including that he used more than $300,000 in
university funds to charter flights on the University Athletic Association’s private jets for trips with no clear business purposes.
The report spelled out the extent to which Sasse, a former Republican U.S. Senator from Nebraska, swerved the university’s existing regulations and guidelines.
Auditors found UF allowed Sasse to award a large chunk of his inner circle — including members of his former Capitol Hill staff — salaries far exceeding the uni-
versity’s market-rate averages and without soliciting competing applications from other candidates.
The audit also raised concerns over the university’s decision to let Sasse keep his $1 million salary for a continued role as a professor and adviser to the UF Board of Trustees chairman. Sasse’s current roles “appear to be significantly less in scope” than his duties as president, the auditors’ report read. As such, “the public purpose of such
COMPANION BILLS IN FLORIDA SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ARE AMY TRASK’S MONTHSLONG PROJECT
By Sara-James Ranta Alligator Staff Writer
Editor’s note: This story contains sensitive topics of domestic violence and abuse and may be sensitive to some readers.
Ten years ago, Amy Trask was in her kitchen making eggs for breakfast, her newborn asleep in the crib. Her partner sat on the couch, still intoxicated from the night before. The air was tense.
As her newborn began to wake, Trask was told to “shut the baby up,” she said. With each wail, she felt her partner’s anger begin to escalate. As she grabbed her child, she dialed 911.
Moments later, the phone was taken from her hands and shattered against the wall. Through the pain of the physical abuse, Trask said she remembers a moment of stillness came over her, reminding her she was going to protect her child if it was the last thing she’d do.
“I remember throwing myself on top of my child … thinking that this was it, that I was gonna die, and that I just needed to hold on until the police came,” she said.
In the United States, one in four women are victims of domestic violence. Each year, domestic violence affects nearly 10 million people, according to the National Institute of Health.
Last year in Gainesville alone, police responded to an average of about 2.5 domestic violence
incidents per day.
Following her own experience, Trask set out to create a pair of bills to protect other Floridians from facing the same. If passed, the bills would expand law enforcement response and victim resources and create a “panic button” to make it easier for people to escape their situation.
Senate Bill 240 and House Bill 19, companion bills named “Victims of Domestic Violence and Dating Violence,” is Trask’s monthslong project. Each bill will be voted on through its respective chamber during Florida’s upcoming legislative session in March.
A companion bill is a bill introduced in one chamber that is identical or similar to a bill in the other chamber, usually to streamline the approval process. The bills may be amended any number of times throughout each respective committee's reviews. However, both bills must be of identical form when up for vote in both chambers.
If passed in both chambers, the identical versions will be drafted into one bill for Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign into law.
What would the bills do?
The first thing the bills would do is redefine “dating violence” and “domestic violence” to be legally consistent with each other, Trask said.
In Florida, domestic violence law encompasses familial relationships, including blood relatives and marriages. It requires the individuals to have lived together at some point or have a shared child.
Madilyn Gemme // Alligator Staff
Amy Trask, a victim of domestic violence, introduces a pair of bills to protect other Floridians from facing the same.
Addressing domestic violence through policy
DV BILL, from pg. 1
Dating violence law centers around recent romantic or intimate relationships, and the actual definition of the relationship is determined by specific criteria, including duration and interaction. There is no cohabitation requirement.
State support service providers rely on statutory definitions to determine eligibility for aid. The difference in criteria may result in inconsistent applications of the laws, delaying or limiting legal protections.
Due to these distinctions, Trask said, victims of dating violence may be left with fewer resources.
The new bills may also expand the eligibility criteria for the Florida Attorney General’s Address Confidentiality Program to victims of dating violence and stalking.
The ACP provides victims of domestic violence with public records exemptions, including a substitute address they can use on official records and mail to keep them safe from their abusers. The program is different from a witness protection program, which provides additional physical security measures, financial support or government assistance for identity changes.
The bills could also establish a new council through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement made up of law enforcement leaders, victim services and legal experts.
Most notably, the council would be tasked with developing a website synchronized with law enforcement databases allowing users to receive immediate updates and support tailored to their situation.
After users fill out an online form, the website would generate a unique phone number they can use to discreetly contact emergency services. When users make a call using their personalized number, they’ve also chosen a specific pin code or phrase carefully alerting law enforcement to their distress.
Trask said the provision would help victims receive immediate support in a form similar to emergency “code word” practices in pop culture, such as “placing a pizza order” through 911 or ordering an “angel shot” at a bar.
“When they’re ready, they call that number they’ve saved as ‘Dad’ or ‘Aunt Mary,’ and if they can’t speak, they dial in that pin number,” she said. “If the abuser takes your phone mid-call, you’re on the phone with ‘Aunt Mary.’”
If passed, the council’s first meeting would be required to occur by Oct. 1.
State Senator Lori Berman,
D-Palm Beach, said she was “very happy to take on the bill” and be SB 240’s sponsor in the senate. State Representative Yvonne Hayes Hinson, D-Gainesville, sponsored the bill’s House counterpart.
As a legislator, Berman’s responsible for drafting the bill. For nearly four months, her office worked to carefully edit the bill before it was officially filed in the legislature Jan. 14.
Berman said her main motivations to sponsor stemmed from her involvement in previous domestic violence legislation.
Greyson’s Law, which went into effect in 2023, enhances child safety in custody decisions by mandating that courts consider evidence of domestic violence, including threats against a parent, when determining parenting plans. Berman carried the law through two legislative sessions before it was passed.
Berman said the most interesting aspect of the bill was the FDLE’s creation of the website, citing it would improve the current support system for victims.
Berman mentioned the council may have difficulty when equitably distributing resources, especially to rural areas. Berman said her office will be continuing meetings with the FDLE to ensure the bill’s technology standards can feasibly be met.
“Domestic violence should not be a partisan issue,” she said. “I believe the Florida legislature’s job is to do everything we can to protect victims.”
Local law enforcement resources
In 2024, about 40% of the Gainesville Police Department’s 569 responses to battery incidents were for domestic battery, according to GPD report data.
When GPD officers respond to domestic violence, their actions are guided directly by Florida law. Upon arrival, the officer will assist the victim in obtaining medical treatment if needed. The officer is required to provide the victim with immediate notice of their legal rights and remedies, using a standard form developed by the state. They’ll also inform victims about available services at local support centers and the possibility of filing a criminal complaint and an injunction for protection.
Additionally, the officer must conduct a lethality assessment to evaluate the risk of further harm to the victim. Regardless of whether an arrest is made, the officer must complete a detailed written report of the incident, which is then shared with the nearest certified domestic violence center within 24 hours. In Gainesville, the nearest certified centers are
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Peaceful Paths and the Alachua County Crisis Center.
GPD Sgt. Lynne Valdes is the coordinator for the local Rape Aggression Defense program. The national R.A.D. program is a free three-day, 25-person course designed to teach self-defense and education.
The course is taught through GPD four times a year, Valdes said. The first day focuses on education and the second on skill building. The final day focuses on collaboration, where GPD demonstrates simulations and partners with Alachua County Victim Services for resource support.
Valdes has been coordinator of the R.A.D. program for nearly a decade and continues to teach because of the confidence boost she sees from others who complete the course, she said.
“It’s amazing to see shy females come in on day one, not sure of themselves, not sure of what they can do, and by day three … seeing how confident, that they are enough and that they have a plan, it’s great,” she said.
The overall responses to the program are positive, especially when women have traditionally been told it’s “un-ladylike to fight,” she said.
The Alachua Sheriff’s Office also partners with Santa Fe College to teach the same course.
Looking ahead
Throughout January, Amy Trask said she met with over 60 legislators, detailing her story to each of them. She’s still looking for more Republican sponsors, but said she’s received positive support thus far.
Although she has no expectations, Trask said she’s committed to help the bill’s implementation, if passed, in any way she can. Above all, Trask said she hopes the bills convey to survivors that their lives matter.
“This bill has taught me that the most important thing I can teach my children is that love doesn’t hurt,” she said. “Whether this bill helps one person or 10,000 people … if it’s the only thing I ever do, legislatively, I’m going to be proud of that.”
@sarajamesranta sranta@alligator.org
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Private jets, lavish parties and big contracts
a salary is not readily apparent.”
Sasse, who is back on campus this semester co-teaching a class at UF’s Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education,said “it’s not true” there was any inappropriate spending out of his office. In a statement posted to X in August, Sasse argued significant spending was a necessary measure to carry out his “go bigger” approach for the university.
“We also cut spending and consulting expenses in some areas,” Sasse wrote. “But countervailing accounting realities aren’t sexy amid breathless social media.”
Auditors flagged other line items from Sasse’s expenses as unreasonably priced, including a $169,755 holiday party costing $285 per guest, excessive employment perks for some hires and a $6.4 million consulting contract yielding no apparent benefits to the university’s operations.
Neither Sasse nor his assistant, Raven Shirley, responded to The Alligator’s two calls and an email requesting comment on the audit’s findings.
Citing concerns over his wife’s worsening health issues, Sasse abruptly resigned in July amid an increasingly tense relationship with Mori Hosseini, UF’s long-serving board of trustees chair. The following month, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration called for an audit into the UF president’s office just days after The Alligator first reported on Sasse’s outsized spending habits.
In its preliminary report, the Florida Auditor General recommended a slew of changes to university policies meant to tamp
down on improper spending out of the president’s office, including greater oversight of the president’s hiring decisions.
“Absent appropriate controls, there is an increased risk of wasteful, fraudulent and abusive travel expenses,” one recommendation read.
UF trustees passed new measures in December addressing some of the state’s concerns, including a rule requiring the president to get Hosseini’s sign-off before booking non-commercial flights. The rule explicitly bans university-paid flights for personal or political activities.
According to the audit, Sasse spent $335,366 on 21 flights aboard UAA-chartered jets, averaging $16,820 per trip. These included a $51,468 flight to Salt Lake City, Utah, a canceled trip costing $23,405 and eight flights to Miami totaling $89,340. Flight records show Sasse often traveled alone, with an unspecified number of university employees or with family members.
State auditors noted UF didn't provide documentation justifying the business necessity of the trips or explain why Sasse flew on chartered jets instead of commercial flights. Additionally, administrators hadn’t approved $219,481 of UAAchartered flights charged to the president’s office before takeoff.
Sasse’s expenditures on UAAchartered flights alone was more than double the total travel expenses for 15 members of his presidential staff who worked remotely — 13 of who worked out of state. Those staffers racked up $159,795 in travel expenses for trips to UF’s main campus in Gainesville.
Sasse permitted those senior staffers to work remotely without formal agreements, violating UF policy. Per the auditors’ report, university records didn’t show “how the work was necessary and more beneficial to be performed remotely than having staff perform services at a central workplace.”
The university also reimbursed some of Sasse’s staffers with $7,017 in state sales tax costs related to travel expenses, even though UF is exempt from paying Florida sales taxes.
State auditors also found Sasse didn’t recruit a majority of his hires through competitive recruitment processes and awarded 21 salaries not supported by the university’s
average market rates. The report singled out three employees with salaries exceeding the market-rate schedule by $28,700 to $268,700. Sasse and another unidentified university leader set the salaries, according to the audit, and in some instances offered excessive employment perks to certain hires.
The president’s office paid one of Sasse’s direct hires $100,000 for a housing loan under a newly established program. The hire received an additional $80,000 recruitment bonus and a $25,000 relocation stipend — raising auditors' concerns over the “reasonableness” of the loan.
In another case, the university awarded one of Sasse’s hires with
a $115,000 relocation stipend on top of their annual base salary of $570,000. That employee resigned after only eight months at UF, and university officials told auditors the employee's contract didn’t require repayment.
Once the preliminary findings are delivered to UF, the university has 30 days to respond, according to a statement from the Florida Auditor General. A final report including UF’s response is expected to be released this month.
Two university spokespeople, reached by email Jan. 31, didn’t respond for comment.
gshanley@alligator.org @garrettshanley
Jea Nace // Alligator Staff
The Florida Auditor General’s report, obtained by The Alligator, revealed new details about Sasse’s spending practices.
Books, music and trinkets galore: A guide to independent bookstores in Gainesville
Step
into a
world of literary knowledge and appreciation
By Annie Wang Alligator Staff Writer
Whether Gainesville locals are searching for a new favorite book, a cozy study spot or simply a place to spend hours browsing rows of neatly — or haphazardly — stacked books, the city’s independent bookstores have it all.
Gainesville is home to four independent bookstores, each offering its own unique atmosphere and collection of books.
From well-loved books to carefully curated shelves, these bookstores create an environment where every visit marks a new discovery.
Books and Music, Wormhole
As customers step into Books and Music, Wormhole, they are welcomed with the delicate hum of a record player and the soothing aroma of tea. The bookstore features a wide selection of used books, records, cassette tapes, CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes.
The owner, or “Chief Worm,” Phil Wurm, said he opened the store around four and a half years ago. Wurm finds joy and purpose in creation, he said, which inspired him to open a store that celebrates artistic mediums like books and music.
Wurm carefully curates the store’s selection, sourcing through donations, personal purchases and trades within antiquarian book circuits.
“I’m always looking for books everywhere I go,” Wurm said. “It’s an unhealthy compulsion.”
Books and Music, Wormhole also hosts literary events, local author readings, puppet shows, sound
art installations and poetry performances, which are advertised through the store’s Instagram.
Wurm loves hanging out with the people who visit his store, he said, and often witnesses someone walk in unsure of what they’ll find before leaving with something that changes their life. Sometimes, Wurm even learns from his customers.
“I love learning, and that’s what this vehicle is,” he said. “I’m blessed just to be able to be in something where I can learn something new every day.”
The Lynx
In April, American novelist and short story writer Lauren Groff opened a new bookstore in Gainesville: The Lynx.
The bookstore offers a wide range of genres, along with journals, cards, stickers, decorative items and exclusive store merchandise. It also serves coffee, tea, beer, wine and pastries.
Jackie Davison, the operations manager at The Lynx, said its mission is to share banned books with the Gainesville community and to uplift queer individuals, people of color and local voices.
Upon entering The Lynx, customers are greeted with a section dedicated to banned books, many displayed with an explanation of the reason behind their censorship.
The Lynx also started a nonprofit, The Lynx Watch, Inc., which receives donations of banned books and distributes them to organizations like the Pace Center for Girls and the Early Learning Coalition.
The Lynx gave over $20,000 worth
of banned books last year, Davison said.
“Free people read freely,” she said. “Everybody should have access to any book they want to read.”
In line with this philosophy, Davison said The Lynx strives to create an inclusive and engaged literary community through book clubs. The bookstore offers four book clubs: classics, banned books, romance and Florida literature. Science fiction and fantasy book clubs are set to launch in March.
Each club selects a monthly book and holds discussions about the reading. Sign-ups are completed online through The Lynx’s website. Its website also features a list of events like author meet and greets, writing classes and musical performances.
“We just provide a place that people can be who they are,” Davison said. “It’s just like a community hub.”
Friends of the Library
On Sept. 30, 1954, Friends of the Library held its inaugural organizational meeting at J.J. Finley Elementary School. The following month, the organization hosted its first book sale and raised $80. A little over 70 years later, it’s established itself as a cherished part of the Gainesville community.
Friends of the Library sets itself apart from a traditional bookstore in several ways. For one, it’s not a permanent installation. It only sells books twice a year for stretches of five days at a time. Its first sale of 2025 will take place April 26-30, and its second sale Oct. 25-29. The second-to-last day of each sale is half-
price day, and the last day of each sale is 10-cent day, during which products only cost a dime each.
Sue Morris, the book sale publicity chairwoman at Friends of the Library, said Friends of the Library opens its doors to nonprofit organizations the day after their final sale, and the organizations are free to take whatever they’re interested in.
Friends of the Library is an allvolunteer, non-profit organization. Most of its funds are used to support the Alachua County Library District, with the rest going toward scholarships, literacy initiatives within the community, grant programs and building maintenance.
“[Our mission is] to support literacy throughout the community and to support our public library,” Morris said.
During the organization’s biannual sales, the books are separated by genre. Each sale also has a special collector’s corner area, where it features rare books, first editions, signed volumes and unusual books. This year, it will feature a signed book by former United States President Jimmy Carter and one by his wife, Rosalynn Carter. The collector’s corner is only open the first four days of each scheduled sale.
The book sale also features records, games, CDs, audiobooks, DVDs, art pieces, posters, prints, puzzles and magazines. One of Morris’ favorite parts of volunteering at Friends of the Library is the diverse selection of books they have available, she said.
“Everything has been donated, mostly from our community,” Morris said. “And of course, Gainesville is a university community, so we tend to have a lot of really lovely donations.”
Book Gallery West
Nestled in the Millhopper Shopping Center is Book Gallery West, an independent bookstore owned by former social worker Jan Fronk. Book Gallery West used to just be called Book Gallery, a popular store for students looking to buy textbooks.
“I would come in, it was so fun, you know?” Fronk said. “It wasn’t just books — it was all this other fun stuff. I’d pass it to go to Publix, [and] there it was. And I loved it.”
An opportunity to buy the store came when Fronk inherited some money, so she decided to take a leap of faith and buy the place she had always loved.
Book Gallery West sells used books, with the majority in excellent, almost new, condition. It also sells candles, mugs, socks, self-care products, bags, cards and other knickknacks.
Most of the store’s books come from people who bring in their old collections, Fronk said. Some of those collections are in turn donated to Friends of the Library, for which Book Gallery West is a major benefactor.
A lot about the literary industry has changed, Fronk said, especially with the rise of Kindles and e-books. However, she said she believes her store was able to endure because of its strong customer base.
“I love my store,” Fronk said. “We have staff that have stayed for years. Why? They love it too, just like me. Apparently the community does, too.”
@wynwg awang@alligator.org
Waldo residents juggle need for growth with maintaining a “small town” feel
THE FORWARD FOCUS PLAN AIMS TO REVITALIZE EAST ALACHUA COUNTY
By Morgan Vanderlaan Alligator Staff Writer
After spending over a decade in downtown Gainesville, Bill Bryson said he felt a call to nature. Now, surrounded by train tracks and a 300-acre blueberry farm, Bryson said he’s found a sense of peace after moving to Waldo in 2009.
“Even though it’s only 20 miles away, it feels like it’s very far from Gainesville,” he said. “I’ve viewed Waldo as this kind of undiscovered gem.”
Yet living in rural areas comes with unique challenges. In communities like Waldo, with a population of only 818 in 2023, it’s not unusual to have limited resources like no nearby stores or police force. Between 1972 and 2017, over 500 small towns in the United States were forced to disband city policing, which often led to county agents having to take over, according to a PBS article.
A 2023 study identified 15.4% of households in rural areas as food insecure, which compared to 13.2% in metropolitan areas. Over 14% of Waldo households received food stamps in 2023, compared to 9% in neighboring Gainesville, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Alachua County hosted a community input session Jan. 25 at the Waldo City Square in hopes of addressing underlying concerns of future development projects. The meeting was a part of the county’s Forward Focus plan, an initiative aiming to “boost economic opportunities and address community needs in the eastern part of the county” over the next three years, according to the county website.
Bryson, who spoke during the community input section of the meeting, said he hopes this initiative can bring thoughtful development to his beloved town.
“I’ve had a hope that Waldo would develop into the potential that it has to be this great, small town, quiet town, preserve and build up its identity,” he said.
Through creative entrepreneurship, like renovating old buildings into new businesses, Bryson said development could help bring traffic from U.S. Route 301 and State Road 24, which run through Waldo, into the town and make his beloved community more than just a dot on a map.
However, there was also a sense of caution from community members at the event.
“I don’t want it to develop sort of in a haphazard way and a heavily, heavily developed way, the way western Alachua County has,” Bryson said.
Alachua County is no stranger to development. With I-75 running through Western Alachua County, which includes parts of Gainesville and Newberry, new construction continues with recent developments in places like Celebration Pointe and Butler Town Center. Yet, with rich wetlands and forests, Eastern Alachua County, encompassing places like Waldo, Hawthorne and Melrose, hasn’t seen notable change over the years.
Wetlands make up over 94,000 acres in Alachua County, accounting for approximately 18% of the county’s over 350,000 acres, according to a report by UF’s IFAS extension. Much of the county’s wetlands can be found in eastern regions, including state-protected parks and preserves like Paynes Prairie.
Development in preserved areas can be difficult, said Sean McLendon, Alachua County’s economic development manager, due to efforts to maintain the balance between green and blue spaces alongside new renovations.
Beyond preserving the environment, the most common issues brought up at Forward Focus meetings include access to education, expanded healthcare options, economic development and alleviating traffic buildup, McLendon said.
Eastern Alachua County has been fairly untouched in comparison to the development in the west, he said. With thoughtful consideration, McLendon said, the commission is hopeful
the initiative will bring with updates the community wants and needs.
“The county commission is very interested to have these [eastern] communities…have opportunities on their side,” he said.
Residents of cities like Waldo can feel forgotten, said Kim Worley, Waldo’s city manager. A common consensus among members at the Forward Focus meeting was an immediate need for traffic control to help with backup coming off the highway while still maintaining the identity of the historic, small town charm, she said.
Waldo was first established as a city in 1859 and quickly became a popular destination due to the railroad running through town. At one point, Waldo boasted resort hotels, an opera house, a theater and paddleboat cruises on Lake Alto. However, after a series of freezes hurting crops, a downtown fire, the Great Depression and the end of the railroad in Waldo, there was “an end to the town’s tourism and trade,” according to the city website. Residents want to balance growth with keeping Waldo’s small town feel, Worley said.
There’s also a desire for simple necessities like somewhere to buy food, she said. Without a grocery store, Waldo residents have to drive to Starke or Gainesville, both of which are over 10 miles away, to do all their vital shopping.
“I think a lot of good discussion came out of the meeting,” she said. “But now the people are like, ‘OK, you’ve written all this down. What are you going to do with it?’”
The initiative is tentatively slated to receive $150,000 this fiscal year, said Missy Daniels, assistant county manager and Forward Focus team lead. Any unused money will roll over to next year.
The next meeting for the Forward Focus Initiative will be Feb. 20 in Micanopy.
@morgvande mvanderlaan@alligator.org
DeSantis said he’d stay out of UF’s next presidential search. His appointees won’t.
New rule gives state Board of Governors final say before candidates are announced
By Grace McClung Alligator Staff Writer
Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he won’t get involved in UF’s presidential search. But under a recent rule, the state university system’s Board of Governors, seven of whom are DeSantis appointees, must approve UF’s presidential finalists before they’re publicly announced.
The board amended presidential search regulations, passed in October, that now require the Board of Governors to approve the search committee’s list of proposed finalists before it’s sent to the UF Board of Trustees. The amendment makes the Board of Governors chairperson an automatic search committee member and expands board representation by allowing it to appoint a board member and an at-large designee. The atlarge designee is not intended to be a fellow board member, but rather a faculty member, trustee or other university affiliate.
The change, which essentially gives the board veto power over any candidate, comes amid a fraught time for university presidencies and top-level searches across Florida’s higher education system. Board members moved to change the search regulations after Florida Atlantic University called off its presidential search last year following accusations of political favoritism, gender discrimination and violations of state search laws.
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and UF are looking for new presidents after financial controversies embroiled the respective institutions. FAMU’s president resigned in July after bungling a fraudulent $237 million donation from a Texas-based hemp farmer. Ben Sasse, UF’s former president, was the subject of a state audit after The Alligator reported on his outsized spending habits in August.
Board of Governors Vice Chair Alan Levine, a former UF trustee, said his experience with the 2012 search process to replace former UF President Bernie Machen highlighted why the changes to the regulation were necessary.
During the search, he said the general counsel asked each trustee to meet with the finalists individually in a private hotel room in Washington, D.C. At the end of the day, the trustees reported their preferred candidate to a search firm rather than openly discussing it during an official committee meeting.
After sharing his concerns with former Florida Gov. Rick Scott, the university called off the search, according to Levine.
“I literally flew right to Tallahassee,” he said. “For members of the board [and] for search firms, to basically structure a search in a way designed to keep the public from really knowing what’s going on until the decision is already made, struck me as very wrong.”
A decade later, Levine saw a similar situation play out while serving on FAU’s presidential search committee. During the June 2023 search, he said the Sunshine Law was violated when votes for candidates weren’t properly recorded, which gave committee members no way to verify the accuracy of the election. The Sunshine Law requires public board and commission meetings to be open to the public and minutes at those meetings to be taken.
Then came the charges of political favoritism.
Then-State Rep. Randy Fine, a Republican, publicly claimed the governor’s office was courting him for the position for about a month and said he was a shoo-in for the job. But when the search committee announced finalists, Fine’s name wasn’t on the list.
Hours later, the chancellor of the state university system requested the search be
New Board of Governors regulations could give DeSantis more influence over UF’s
presidential search, allowing the board to
appoint a member to the search committee and requiring all finalists to get BoG approval.
called off. The university decided to start from scratch based on advice from general counsel.
Fine, now a state senator and campaigning in a special election to serve in the U.S. Congress, declined to be interviewed.
The state report on the investigation into FAU’s search found parts of it did not comply with the presidential search regulation or Florida’s Sunshine Law. The amended regulation aligns with a 2022 law that created a public records exemption for parts of the presidential search process, like keeping confidential information that could identify applicants until the search committee narrows the field to three finalists.
Previously, board members serving on search committees couldn’t voice their concerns about a candidate to their colleagues until after finalists were announced. Earlier involvement, Levine said, ensures candidates aren’t advanced only to be rejected later.
He said the new regulation eases applicants’ concern about public exposure and prevents competitive candidates from withdrawing or not applying altogether. Under the board’s rules, search committees must now submit at least three finalists unless there are “exceptional circumstances.”
Board of Trustees criticism
Brian Lamb, the Board of Governors chair, said in a Sept. 18 board meeting the changes to the regulation weren’t an overstep. Instead, he said, they would make the presidential selection process smoother and more transparent — a challenge he described as one of his “biggest frustrations” during his time as chair.
“I can personally attest to every single president sitting around this table — their contracts, their processes, the trustees involved — and I can tell you we are not performing at an elite level,” he said.
But university trustees have criticized the regulation, saying it’s a blatant lack of trust.
Mori Hosseini, the chairman of the UF Board of Trustees, argued the new regula-
tion diminishes trustees’ power and signals a lack of trust from the state. But members of the Board of Governors said the amendments increase transparency, protect applicant confidentiality and simplify the presidential search process.
“Make no mistake about that — the board of governors is more and more less trusting of the board of trustees,” Hosseini said. “It’s almost as if the board of trustees is not doing its job.”
Hosseini, a former board of governors chairman, also disagreed with the two-person BoG representation on the search committee.
“We call [the board of trustees] boots on the ground,” he told the governors. “Let them do the work because you’re at 30,000 feet. You’re not there every day.”
Hosseini did not respond to an emailed list of questions sent by The Alligator Feb. 1.
Other university board chairs expressed similar concerns. Florida State University’s board chair Peter Collins said with regulations like this one, the BoG was “eating away bit by bit at the board of trustees’ role.”
Presidential search committees are typically made up of 15 members representing the board of trustees, students, faculty, administrators and alumni, who are appointed by the board of trustees.
Political influence
While the board of governors assured the trustees they would only act as background help, tighter oversight of presidential searches by the board could give DeSantis more leverage in state universities given his ability to appoint 14 of the 17 board members.
State Sen. Lori Berman (D-Palm Beach), a member of the Florida Senate’s higher education committee, said DeSantis was “pretty responsible” for the selection of Ben Sasse as UF president and has played an “outsized role in the governance” of state universities.
“The Board of Trustees should be the ultimate decision-maker,” Berman said. “[They] are obviously closest to the university, and
they know what’s most important for the university.”
During UF’s last presidential search, Ben Sasse was presented as the sole finalist after the other two dropped out. Because UF’s search committee named Sasse as the only known candidate for the job, Berman said, his ascension to the presidency had already been decided.
DeSantis’ chief of staff, James Uthmeier, guided Sasse through the search process, according to POLITICO.In an interview with UF trustees, Sasse denied DeSantis’s role in his appointment, saying he did not have contact with the DeSantis administration during his search.
DeSantis has avoided directly saying he wasn’t involved in Sasse’s selection. He said he would let the trustees lead the search effort because he had confidence they were going to “do something really, really good.”
State Sen. Shevrin Jones (D-Miami-Dade), also on the higher education committee, said he “has no faith with anything that comes out of [DeSantis’] mouth.”
He said he expects the process that put Sasse in UF’s presidential seat will happen again.
Jones said he thought the amended regulation “absolutely limits the autonomy of the search committee” and argued it should be the faculty and students who hold the most authority to select their president with the board of trustees acting as a referee.
“How do you begin to turn your institution around in this 21st century of education when individuals who are being selected are being selected because they’re friends of the governor, or they have done favors for the governor,” he said. “You don’t need a search committee if you’re going in this direction.”
Five other state senators, four Republican and one Democrat, who are also on the higher education committee, didn’t respond to calls and emails requesting comment.
@gracenmclung gmcclung@alligator.org
Jea Nace // Alligator Staff
www.alligator.org/section/opinions
Class dismissed: Alachua County Public Schools teachers reject 1% salary increase
Teachers in Alachua County are fed up.
The recent salary “increase” proposal by the Alachua County School Board was soundly rejected Jan. 21 by teachers — and for good reason. The proposed 1.6% increase did nothing to satisfy the complaints from local teachers who say it wasn’t enough to keep up with the national rate of inflation, which as of last month, is right at 2.9%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
You don’t have to be an economist to realize that life is more expensive nowadays, from eggs to rent and everything in between.
Andrew Carswell opinions@alligator.org
It is disappointing to see how teacher salaries in Gainesville compare to other local occupations to say the least.
The starting salary for a teacher in Alachua County is $47,317 — $8,683 less than the average pay for a manager at Tropical Smoothie and $3,000 less than the average pay of a local Dunkin’ manager.
Historically, Florida has done an atrocious job of spending on education, and teachers in Gainesville are subjected to some of the lowest teacher salaries in America.
For Florida as a whole, the good news is that we no longer rank last in the nation when it comes to teacher pay.
Florida now ranks second to last.
According to a recent survey by the National Education Association, only West Virginia does worse paying teachers what they deserve. We are second on this dubious list, followed by South Dakota, Mississippi and Missouri.
The money that we aren’t spending could help pay for everything from school supplies and infrastructure to after school programs and teacher salaries.
Of course, that’s not to say there’s no money in education, or no money in the bank accounts of Alachua County Public Schools. It’s just not being spent on teachers or students.
A few folks in town are doing really well, and some teachers in Alachua County might even be tempted to ask the new Alachua County Public Schools Superintendent Kamela Patton for a loan.
Interestingly enough, the same school board that said Jan. 21 they could only afford to give teachers a 1% raise approved a lucrative contract for Patton in November, filled with perks that would make an A-list celebrity jealous.
While teachers make $47,317 a year, Patton makes $19,500… every month. That’s enough to buy a ton of smoothies from Tropical Smoothie Cafe and still have plenty left over for coffee from Dunkin’.
So, Patton makes in just over two months what these classroom teachers make in a whole year.
That doesn’t make much sense to most people.
I mentioned inflation earlier, and we all know how the cost of living has skyrocketed in Gainesville and everywhere else. Sadly, there are teachers in Gainesville who can’t afford rent and are living with friends, family members or in their cars.
Thankfully, Patton doesn’t have to worry about this because in addition to her salary, the board also included an additional $2,000 per month for her mortgage or rent. This way, she doesn’t have to spend any of the $19,500 that she makes each month on living expenses.
To make the deal even sweeter, the board threw in an additional $175 monthly allowance for her cell phone, so she doesn’t have to spend any of her $234,000 yearly salary on T-Mobile or Verizon.
$175 seems like a lot for one person’s cell phone bill, but hey, since the taxpayers in Gainesville are footing the bill, why not get the family plan?
It’s about time we started standing up for our teachers, not just with words, but with actions. When our teachers suffer, our students suffer, and that is something we cannot afford, as the consequences could be dire.
Andrew Carswell is a writing professor at Florida State College at Jacksonville.
The man who tweeted his way into government
After a tumultuous election, Donald Trump solidified his position as the next president of the United States during his inauguration Jan. 20. However, instead of being focused on Trump’s image, worldwide viewers looked in shock and confusion at the other man standing at the podium, doing what appeared to be a Nazi salute.
The smiling face behind the gesture was Elon Musk, and his presence at Trump’s inauguration and the election as a whole created a disturbing pattern for the foreseeable future of politics.
Musk’s political involvement started when he bought Twitter, now known as X. Initially, he was just a supporter of the Republican ideologies and politicians on the app. This evolved quite quickly when he became involved with Trump’s campaign for president.
But corporate influence in politics is nothing new.
According to NBC News, in 2012, Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, donated about $4 million to the political campaign of the time, specifically supporting former Republican Senator Mitt Romney. The mindset for such CEOs is that if they support the winning candidate, their company will be shown favor when it comes time to pass legislation affecting their business areas later down the line. Yet one fundamental thing has changed between 2012 and today.
The CEOs weren’t political mascots.
Musk has always been a very vocal businessman, curating a personal brand alongside his financial one as the CEO of Tesla. Where other business leaders made their marks in private company meetings, Musk made himself known to the world — becoming a media personality with a large following. This only increased with his acquisition of X in 2022, where he painstakingly talked about every decision he made and thought about.
For example, on Feb. 3, 2023, he tweeted “Starting today, Twitter will share ad revenue with creators for ads that appear in their reply threads”.
With his political streak on X, it was no surprise that Musk’s pockets backed the Republican Party in the 2025 election.
Musk funded the election through a Political Action Committee, which is a political committee through which an individual can raise funds to help a political candidate. Through his own PAC, Musk donated $239 million to Trump’s campaign, as reported by CBS News. His involvement also came with the added “benefit” of his presence in almost everything Trump did.
If he posted something on X, Musk was the first to respond.
Musk attended a variety of rallies for Trump throughout his campaign, his face beaming underneath a red symbol of his newfound affiliation. While other CEOs silently supported their preferred candidate with behind-the-scenes donations, Musk made sure that people openly associated him with Trump.
This culminated in his actions at the inauguration, when he took the stage and performed
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Alligator.
what seemed to many viewers as an alleged Nazi salute. His monstrous ego after months of feeding off the spotlight of the more prominent Donald Trump lulled him into a fantasy where acting like that was not only appropriate but something to be celebrated.
Some defended Musk’s behavior with the claim that it was a Roman salute.
Regardless of whether or not this is the case, Musk is not an uneducated person completely unaware of what a Nazi salute looks like. He must have understood what it was going to look like, so either Musk knowingly did a salute reminiscent of hate rhetoric or he genuinely saw no problem with his actions.
You can decide which one is worse.
To have a corporate figure act with blatant disregard for the consequences of his actions on live television during the inauguration of the president, an event meant to set the precedent for the next four years, is embarrassing and worrying as he is the government efficiency lead in Trump’s cabinet, meaning he will be involved with the legislative process.
This trend creates a worrying trajectory for the future of our politics where individual interests, not corporate ones, can permeate into such high-level areas. No longer is the rich CEO investing in a candidate for the legislative benefits; their actions are now guided by the prospects of sitting next to the president and being in his close circle.
The total lack of any pretense that Musk’s agenda is for anyone but him and his followers is also a point of concern. To openly present yourself as only oriented toward those who stand behind you, while turning away from those who may think differently, goes completely beyond the idea of the two-party system.
We are not seeing Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla; this is Elon Musk, the political personality.
By rewarding his actions, we as Americans open the door for a political system where having wealth means you will be free to play and frolic around the White House, influencing policies as they interest you.
Qualifications? Doesn’t matter. Were they elected by the people? Didn’t need to be.
The average voter will no longer be represented by their government. Those in charge are no longer interested in their voices because the people at the top all eat from the same bowl. The longer we let someone like this prance around our institutions, the more susceptible we are to societal strain.
Now more than ever it is important to express our individuality and our beliefs. The average person’s voice has to matter, even in the face of a loud demagogue.
We have to make it matter.
Andres Arguello is a UF psychology junior.
Andres Arguello opinions@alligator.org
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2025
www.alligator.org/section/the_avenue
Luke’s New York Bagels opens new City Food Hall location
THE GAINESVILLE STAPLE HOPES TO EXPAND ITS STUDENT CUSTOMER BASE WITH THE MOVE CLOSER TO CAMPUS
By Juliana DeFilippo Avenue Staff Writer
Luke’s New York Bagels, which first opened on Main Street in March 2020, welcomed a line of tired but eager customers to its new location at City Food Hall Jan. 30. The window opened at 7 a.m., when 22-year-old Jose Herrera was the first to order.
Herrera, a UF health science senior, was able to choose one item of Luke’s merchandise for free, and received a complimentary bagel with cream cheese. He held his black Luke’s crewneck while discussing his appreciation for the shop’s diverse selection of breakfast items.
“It’s not just your classic bagel — like your plain bagel and your everything [bagel],” he said. “You have a lot of options. I like trying the variety.”
Luke’s original location at 620 S Main Street has considerably grown during its soon-to-be five years of operation. Jason Hurst, who became the owner of Luke’s New York Bagels in December, said the shop welcomes around 200 people
per day at its busiest. During football season, that number goes up to around 1,000.
Hurst said he saw the potential to expand the business because of the shop’s customer base in Gainesville, and he imagined the success of locations across the state, serving UF alumni who move to different cities after graduation. Working with former owner Luke Vescovi, who is now a member of the advisory board, Hurst decided to target current students with a convenient location while still serving the Gainesville community as a whole.
“About 75% of our customer base is students,” he said. “We would like to be able to have the students be able to come over here, but then also have the capacity to be able to serve some of the Gainesville residents and the people that live over on that side of town.”
As more City Food Halls are established in cities across Florida, including Orlando and Tallahassee, Hurst said he hopes Luke’s can expand with them. Students in line predicted City Food Hall’s proximity to campus will draw in more crowds.
Gracyn Frederick, a 20-year-old UF industrial and systems engineering junior, was the 10th person in line for the opening and said she’s visited the Main Street location in the past.
“The other one’s really far, and
it’s just a little hidden gem on the corner,” she said. “This one’s kind of right smack-dab in the middle of students. Personally, this is going to hurt my wallet a little bit, because it’s really close.”
Tripp Pomeroy is the 59-year-old CEO of Sweetwater Organic Coffee, which provides the coffee sold at Luke’s. Sweetwater aims to ethically source the coffee it produces by working with Cooperative Coffees to support “small-scale farmer coops,” he said.
Hurst said he was “impressed” by Sweetwater’s fair-trade coffee system and knew ethical sourcing was a priority for his own company. The two have worked together throughout the opening of the new location, and Pomperoy arrived at Luke’s at 7 a.m. to support his business partner. Hurst’s efforts serve as a way of building a community, Pomperoy said.
“It’s a great location — really accessible to UF students and everybody who comes downtown,” Pomperoy said. “And Jason is all in on community, which is what we [at Sweetwater] are as well.”
Luke’s New York Bagels City Food Hall location is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
@JulianaDeF58101 jdefillipo@alligator.org
Local solutions to Gainesville’s sweet treat shortage
RESIDENTS CITE LOCATION AND TASTE AS TOP DESSERT DRAWS
By Rachel Mish Avenue Staff Writer
When Kassandra Rodriguez, a 25-year-old social coordinator, wants a sweet treat, her cravings call her to the closest dessert shop. Near UF campus, it’s quite the hike.
After Sweet Dreams Ice Cream closed in 2023, Gainesville experienced a lack of sweet treats within walking distance of UF campus, and Alachua County residents have suffered. Businesses such as Ice Eatery — an ice cream, waffle and crêpes shop — aim to fill this hole. For those with a sweet tooth, the eatery faces strong competition from another downtown location — Charlie’s Snow Shack, a shaved ice shop.
Rodriguez said both cost and location are
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crucial to an ideal sweet treat experience. Although she goes to Ice Eatery more often due to its proximity, Charlie’s Snow Shack is her overall preference, and she appreciates that it’s both a hidden gem and a small Blackowned business.
Fortunately for Rodriguez, Charlie’s Snow Shack is in the process of acquiring permission from UF to be a campus event vendor in 2025. Cody Sheppard, a 32-year-old student dean at Gainesville High School, is one of the dessert shop’s owners.
Although many student organizations have reached out to do campus events, he said he wishes more students knew about the brick-and-mortar location. Just a quick drive away at 14 NW Seventh Ave,the shop is popular among students once they find it, Sheppard said.
After he bought the store about a year ago, Sheppard said, one way he attempted to bring in new customers was by introduc-
ing flavor combinations as seasonal specials, such as “Rainbow,” which includes pineapple, strawberry and blue raspberry all in one snow cone.
Although many customers find comfort in classic flavors like vanilla and chocolate, Josefina Ontivero, a 20-year-old UF architecture sophomore, feels the opposite and loves the opportunity to experience a changing menu. While having a dessert location next door would be tempting, she said going to the same place and eating the same food can get boring.
“I also think there’s something special about having to go out of your way to get to these places,” she said.
Ontivero is a self-proclaimed lover of good branding and doesn’t hesitate to seek out a sweet treat she sees in a social media post.
Ice Eatery, a dessert shop with more than 1,000 followers on Instagram, is known for its convenient location and its oversized Uno
cards. Located at 1025 W University Ave, less than half a mile from UF campus, the shop draws in students by offering an Uno challenge. Groups of five customers can come in, play the game and compete against each other to win a $10 credit for its treats.
This unique offering attracts customers, but Eros Puentes, the 36-year-old general manager, said customers typically visit for the first time because of the location. When they come back, though, it’s because they liked what they ate.
“When we give them crêpes, they leave the plates empty,” he said.
Puentes is married to Ice Eatery’s 40-yearold owner, Maria Puentes, and said he finds pride in running the shop side-by-side and seeing customers come in to enjoy dessert and play some Uno.
@mish_rache62827
rmisch@alligator.org
Juliana DeFilippo // Alligator Staff Customers order at the window of Luke’s New York Bagels’ new location at City Food Hall on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025.
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Some young adults consider ditching booze amid sobriety trends
HEALTH, BUSINESS ANALYSTS EXPLORE POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF ‘SOBER CURIOUS’ MOVEMENT
By Avery Parker and Natalie Kaufman Alligator Staff Writer
The “mocktail” is having its moment, and Modelo is old news — at least according to Quinn Tetterton, a 20-year-old UF theatre sophomore.
Tetterton said his friends drag him to venues where clutching a Solo Cup or seltzer is a social expectation. But Tetterton’s happy to swap booze for alcohol-free beverages like Liquid Death, a sparkling water product packaged to resemble a beer can. He said he wants to feel included but not intoxicated.
“To have something to look like alcohol and cool in your hand, it makes you feel better,” Tetterton said.
He’s not alone. More than half of his Gen Z peers have embraced alcohol-free lifestyles as a matter of personal taste and health improvement.
Shifting attitudes toward drinking coincide with a new government advisory linking alcohol to seven kinds of cancer. As millions of Americans nursed New Year’s hangovers, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released a report correlating moderate drinking with an increased risk of developing breast and colon cancer, among five other chronic illnesses.
Along with his Jan. 3 warning, Murthy suggested the government update existing warning labels on alcoholic beverages to reflect cancer risk, which would require congressional action.
But young adults were flirting with temperance before the advisory. Social campaigns encouraging adults to limit their alcohol consumption, like the “sober curious” and Dry January movements, exploded on TikTok and Instagram in the waning hours of 2024. Wellness influencers pounced on the trend and filmed thousands of recipe videos for mocktails — nonalcoholic drinks designed to mimic cocktails.
Tetterton said he isn’t sure Dry January will stick yearround, as New Year’s resolutions are often fleeting. For some people, he added, cutting out alcohol or making a healthy drink swap seems easier in theory than in practice.
A falling-out with alcohol
Americans have increasingly moderated their drinking in the past two decades, a phenomenon driven by health optimization goals, The Atlantic reported last month. That’s increasingly true among young people whose views on drinking are shaped by public health conversations steeped in self-care and wellness.
About 60% of adults under 35 said they drank, down from 72% 20 years ago, according to 2024 Gallup polling.
Dr. Sara Nixon, director of UF’s Center for Addiction
Noah Lantor // Alligator Staff
Local Gainesville liquor store Gator Beverage displays new non-alcoholic beer options alongside their alcoholic counterparts on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025.
Research and Education, said easier access to medical information has potentially given rise to the neo-temperance movement. But understanding the harms associated with drinking isn’t always enough for people to reduce their consumption, she said.
“It takes some ‘oomph’ sometimes to be the only apparent non-drinker [at a social event],” Nixon said. “If you don’t have a ‘reason’ to not drink, that’s sort of stigmatizing.”
The shortcomings of alcohol reduction movements are partly reflected, according to Nixon, by trends in organ transplant operations among young adults.
Liver transplant demand for adults under 40 with alcoholassociated liver disease increased fourfold from 2003 to 2018, according to a study published in the National Library of Medicine.
Prolonged alcohol abuse can also inhibit cognition, said Catalina Lopez-Quintero, an assistant professor in UF’s epidemiology department. Over time, intoxication damages neural pathways in the brain, which are responsible for attention and concentration. This is especially detrimental to the developing mind, she added.
And in social situations where peers are drinking, young adults are more vulnerable to making dangerous decisions, Lopez-Quintero said.
“We’re always concerned about [minors] developing alcohol use disorders and whether intoxication is related to experiencing other adverse outcomes like, for example, being engaged
in risky sexual behaviors,” she said.
Lopez-Quintero said she hopes the popularization of experimental sobriety and the surgeon general’s warning on alcoholrelated cancers will curb underage alcohol abuse.
A healthy dose of skepticism
Rati Venkatesan, a 20-year-old UF economics junior, discovered the sober curious movement on social media. Although she said the campaign’s momentum is encouraging, she doubts the surgeon general’s warning will amplify its influence.
“I think it’s very similar to cigarettes and vapes and things like that, so I think showing that warning isn’t gonna curb a lot of people’s wanting to drink,” Venkatesan said.
Current dietary guidelines recommend women consume no more than one alcoholic beverage a day and men consume no more than two. Medical experts think a cancer warning label on alcohol could deter people from reaching for another glass once they’ve exceeded the healthy threshold.
Aditya Narayanan said he thinks alcohol is losing its grip on underage consumers, but he doesn’t think his peers are ready to quit drinking altogether. The 18-year-old UF chemical engineering freshman predicts boozeless seltzers will help people reduce but not eliminate a thirst for alcoholic counterparts like White Claw.
“Obviously, the [nonalcoholic] options will start to increase, but that’s not gonna necessarily change the presence of alcohol,” Narayanan said.
Young people may moderate their drinking but pair alcohol with smoking or taking edibles, he said.
From Dry January to ‘High January’ Henry Reyes-Perez, a 19-year-old UF mechanical engineering freshman, said he thinks Gen Z will replace or at least complement alcohol with drugs.
“[Young people], in general, drink less probably because they vape more,” Reyes-Perez said, referring to electronic cigarette devices that vaporize marijuana and nicotine.
As recreational marijuana is legalized nationwide, analysts predict weed consumption will soon rival that of alcohol. An estimated 17.7 million people engaged in daily or near-daily marijuana use, while 14.7 million drank daily or near-daily in 2022, The Society for the Study of Addiction reported.
The adoption of alcohol alternatives, often infused with cannabis, edible flowers and fruit, may also stifle alcohol consumption — at a cost.
Sean Momberger: The mastermind behind America’s top rated rap songs
MOMBERGER IS NOMINATED FOR FIVE GRAMMY AWARDS THIS YEAR
By Autumn Johnstone Alligator Staff Writer
In the 7th grade after listening to Kanye West’s album, “The College Dropout,” Gainesville native Sean Momberger began experimenting with music on a $100 drum machine. He had no idea that 20 years later, he would be producing a song off of West’s most recent album, “Vultures 2.”
Now, the 34-year-old record producer and musician has been nominated five times for the 67th Grammy Awards airing on CBS Feb. 2, including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video for Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
Momberger pulled samples from 1960s funk artist Monk Higgins for his songs “tv off” and “Not Like Us” by Lamar, but he also pulled career inspiration from Tom Petty — the man who blazed the trail before him.
“I was always looking up to Tom Petty — just that he made it out of Gainesville and was able to win Grammys despite being from a small town,” Momberger said. “I felt pride knowing that I went to the same high school as him.”
After Momberger produced a song for R&B singer Trey Songz in 2013, he real-
ized he wanted to try to make a living off of creating music.
Momberger also produced songs, “tv off” and “peekaboo,” off of Lamar’s latest album, “GNX.” Momberger said “tv off” was a B-side to “Not Like Us,” while “peekaboo” was created based on the street sounds of Los Angeles.
“I think Kendrick wanted to embody LA in this whole album,” he said.
Jordan Ortiz, a 25-year-old Gainesville resident and hip-hop DJ, said he believes that’s exactly what Lamar and Momberger did.
“[‘GNX’] put LA on the map again,” Ortiz said. “You really feel the artist… like it’s him.”
While Momberger said his success wasn’t possible without the help he received from the people around him, Ortiz said musical success is a matter of consistently presenting yourself as confident.
As someone who is an active member of the Gainesville hip-hop scene, Ortiz said the city serves as a stepping stone for many musicians’ careers.
While Ortiz said he believes Gainesville remains a creative breeding ground for music, Momberger said the lack of resources he had when he began producing music might have put his career at a disadvantage.
“Each year, you climb the ladder a little bit,” he said. “I’ve grown a little bit in the industry, but it’s definitely a slow process. I’m very grateful for the journey and all the
people I’ve met.”
Momberger’s success is an example of how Gainesville, once a small town with a few bars, has evolved into a mainstream music scene. It was once hard to become a rap artist, but it’s easier now, he said.
Despite the small hip-hop scene of the early 2000’s, now-legends Kanye West and Lil Wayne were some of the few artists who performed in Gainesville. Ever since Momberger saw them perform in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, he said he knew he had to at least try to make it as a producer.
So, when Momberger moved to Los Angeles after connecting with California rap artist Skeme, he went back to his roots: Kanye West’s “The College Dropout.”
A mutual friend of Momberger’s linked him to projects with West. Looking back at this career step, Momberger expressed gratuity toward his friends and family members.
“I’m blessed to have a lot of friends and co-producers that I’ve met throughout my years that elevated me and let me work with these amazing artists,” Momberger said. “Even though I’m just a small part of the production sometimes, just being able to have my name by the side of those great artists… is just surreal.”
New to the Gainesville scene with a passion for music is Stefan Daley, a 19-year-old UF philosophy freshman who is minoring in music theory. While Daley is a fan of progressive rock, characterized by odd time signa-
tures and creative compositions, he said he also loves modern rap and frequently listens to artists like SZA, Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd.
The reason he was drawn into rap was because of its genre-mixing creativity, he said, and the popularity of R&B and the more bluesy sounds of rap go together.
As a musician, Lamar’s influence inspired Daley to create more music. As a fan, it encouraged him to listen to different genres outside his comfort zone.
“There’s a lot of great studio musicians who are making creative jazz-rap music that I don’t think people would be listening to otherwise,” Daley said. “Kendrick [Lamar’s] older music… has a lot of jazz-rap.”
Knowing music entrepreneurs like Momberger have originated from Gainesville, Daley said it’s important to see people like him who are making it big.
So, as Momberger watched the telecast of the 2024 Grammy nominations Nov. 8 in Los Angeles, he kept in mind his humble beginnings back in Gainesville.
“I kind of expected it for [Best Rap Song], but when it was nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, it hit me that it was definitely a cultural-defining song,” he said. “The little kid inside me thought it was a dream.”
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1. TELEVISION: What is the name of the spaceship on the TV drama "Firefly"?
2. GEOGRAPHY: What is the only tropical rainforest in the United States?
1. MEASUREMENTS: How many inches are in a mile?
2. ASTRONOMY: What does the acronym SETI mean to the scientific community?
3. LITERATURE: What is the title of author Oscar Wilde's only complete novel?
4. MOVIES: What is the name of the killer in the movie "Silence of the Lambs"?
5. SCIENCE: What are the three branches of science?
3. LANGUAGE: What does the Latin prefix “sub-” mean in English?
6. AD SLOGANS: Which fast-food chain's slogan is, "What you crave"?
7. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: How many NFL teams are named after animals (including birds)?
4. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms?
8. U.S. STATES: In which state is the U.S. Naval Academy located?
9. ASTRONOMY: How many constellations are visible from Earth?
10. ART: What is the Japanese art of arranging flowers called?
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.
1. Xaviar Babudar, sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for a string of armed bank robberies, was a wolf-costumed superfan of what NFL team?
2.
2. Tennis player Ons Jabeur, Wimbledon ladies' singles finalist in 2022 and '23, hails from what country?
9. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What was the name of the United States’ first nuclear-powered submarine?
3.
3. What is the name of the Arizona State Sun Devils' official athletic mascot?
4. What umpire blew a call at first base in the bottom of the ninth inning to help the Kansas City Royals defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series?
10. GAMES: What are the four railroad properties in Monopoly? Answers
5. Basketball Hall of Famer Tom Heinsohn was a player, coach and broadcaster for what NBA franchise?
1. 63,360 inches
2. Search for extraterrestrial intelligence
6. Greece's Athanasia Tsoumeleka won a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics competing in what athletics event?
7. Ty Detmer, Mark Brunell, Doug Pederson, Matt Hasselbeck and Jim McMahon were among what Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback's backups?
3. Below or insufficient
4. Grover Cleveland
5. Katharine Hepburn
6. Devils Tower, 1906
7. The Philippines
8. “The Matrix”
9. The USS Nautilus
14 (Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks). 8. Maryland. 9. 88. 10. Ikebana.
10. Pennsylvania, Short Line, Reading and B&O
ScrabbleGrams
The Kansas City Chiefs (Babadur
"ChiefsAholic").
Tunisia.
Sparky.
Serenity.
El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico.
"The Picture of Dorian Gray."
Buffalo Bill.
El Caimán
LUNES, 3 DE FEBRERO DE 2025
www.alligator.org/section/elcaiman
Mujer de Gainesville aborda la violencia doméstica con un proyecto de ley de Florida
Los proyectos de ley complementarios en el Senado y la Cámara de Representantes de Florida son el proyecto de meses de Amy Trask
Por Sara-James Ranta Escritora de El Caimán
Traducido por Gabriella Chavez
Escritora
de El Caimán
Hace diez años, Amy Trask estaba en su cocina preparando huevos para el desayuno, mientras su bebé recién nacido dormía en su cuna. Su pareja estaba sentado en el sofá, aún ebrio de la noche anterior. El aire estaba tenso. Cuando su recién nacido comenzó a despertarse, le pidieron a Trask que “callara al bebé”, dijo. Con cada gemido, sintió que la ira de su pareja seguía aumentando. Mientras agarraba a su bebé, llamó al 911. Momentos después, le quitaron el teléfono de las manos y lo tiraron contra la pared. A través del dolor del abuso físico, Trask dijo que recuerda que un momento de tranquilidad la invadió, recordando que iba a proteger a su bebé aunque fuera lo último que hiciera.
“Recuerdo haberme arrojado encima de mi hijo... pensando que eso era todo, que iba a morir y que sólo necesitaba aguantar hasta que la policía llegara”, dijo.
En Estados Unidos, una de cada cuatro mujeres es víctima de violencia doméstica. Cada año, la violencia doméstica afecta a casi 10 millones de personas, según el Instituto Nacional de Salud. Sólo el año pasado en Gainesville, la policía respondió a un promedio de aproximadamente 2.5 incidentes de violencia doméstica por día.
Después de su propia experiencia, Trask se propuso crear un par de proyectos de ley para proteger a otros floridanos de enfrentar lo mismo. Si se aprueban, los proyectos de ley ampliarían la respuesta de las autoridades, los
recursos para las víctimas y crearían un “botón de pánico” para facilitar que las personas escapen de su situación.
El Proyecto de Ley del Senado 240 y el Proyecto de Ley 19 de la Cámara de Representantes, proyectos de ley complementarios denominados “Víctimas de violencia doméstica y violencia de pareja”, es el proyecto de Trask, en el que ha trabajado por meses. Cada proyecto de ley será votado a través de su respectiva cámara durante la próxima sesión legislativa de Florida en marzo. Un proyecto de ley complementario es un proyecto de ley presentado en una cámara que es idéntico o similar a un proyecto de ley de la otra cámara, generalmente para agilizar el proceso de aprobación. Los proyectos de ley pueden modificarse cualquier número de veces durante las revisiones de cada comité respectivo. Sin embargo, ambos proyectos de ley deben tener la misma forma cuando se sometan a votación en ambas cámaras. Si se aprueba en ambas cámaras, las versiones idénticas se redactarán en un proyecto de ley para que el gobernador Ron DeSantis lo firme.
¿Qué harían los proyectos de ley?
Lo primero que harían los proyectos de ley es redefinir la “violencia en el noviazgo” y la “violencia doméstica” para que sean legalmente consistentes entre sí, dijo Trask.
En Florida, la ley de violencia doméstica abarca las relaciones familiares, incluidos los parientes de sangre y los matrimonios. Requiere que los individuos hayan vivido juntos en algún momento o tengan un hijo compartido.
La ley sobre violencia en el noviazgo se centra en relaciones románticas o íntimas
recientes, y la definición real de la relación está determinada por criterios específicos, incluyendo la duración y la interacción. No existe ningún requisito de convivencia.
Los proveedores de servicios de apoyo estatales se basan en definiciones legales para determinar la elegibilidad para recibir ayuda. La diferencia de criterios puede resultar en aplicaciones inconsistentes de las leyes, atrasando o limitando las protecciones legales.
Debido a estas distinciones, dijo Trask, las víctimas de violencia en el noviazgo pueden quedarse con menos recursos.
Los nuevos proyectos de ley también pueden ampliar los criterios de elegibilidad para el Programa de Confidencialidad de Dirección del Procurador General de Florida a las víctimas de violencia en el noviazgo y acoso.
La ACP brinda a las víctimas de violencia doméstica exención de registros públicos, incluyendo una dirección sustituta que pueden usar en los registros oficiales y en el correo para mantenerlos a salvo de sus abusadores.
El programa es diferente a un programa de protección de testigos, que proporciona medidas de seguridad física adicionales, apoyo financiero o asistencia gubernamental para cambios de identidad. Los proyectos de ley también podrían establecer un nuevo consejo a través del Departamento de Aplicación de la Ley de Florida, compuesto por líderes encargados de hacer cumplir la ley, servicios a víctimas y expertos legales.
En particular, el consejo tendría la tarea de desarrollar un sitio web sincronizado con las bases de datos de las autoridades que permita a los usuarios recibir actualizaciones inmediatas y apoyo adaptado a su situación.
Después de que los usuarios completen un formulario en línea, el sitio web generará un número de teléfono único que pueden usar para comunicarse discretamente con los servicios de emergencia. Cuando los usuarios realizan una llamada utilizando su número personalizado, también eligen un código pin específico o una frase que alerta cuidadosamente a las autoridades sobre su angustia.
Trask dijo que la disposición ayudaría a las víctimas a recibir apoyo inmediato en una forma similar a las prácticas de "palabras clave" de emergencia en la cultura pop, como "hacer un pedido de pizza" a través del 911 o pedir un "shot de ángel" en un bar.
"Cuando están listos, llaman a ese número que guardaron como 'papá' o 'tía Mary', y si no pueden hablar, marcan ese número PIN", dijo. "Si el abusador toma tu teléfono en medio de una llamada, estás hablando por teléfono con 'tía Mary'".
Si se aprueba, la primera reunión del consejo debería realizarse antes del 1 de octubre.
La senadora estatal Lori Berman, demócrata de Palm Beach, dijo que estaba “muy feliz de aceptar el proyecto de ley” y ser la patrocinadora de la SB 240 en el Senado. La representante estatal Yvonne Hayes Hinson, demócrata de Gainesville, patrocinó la contraparte del proyecto de ley en la Cámara. Lea el resto en línea en alligator.org/section/elcaiman.
Algunos jóvenes piensan en dejar alcohol entre la moda de sobriedad
ANALISTAS DE SALUD Y LOS NEGOCIOS EXPLORAN LOS IMPACTOS POTENCIALES DEL MOVIMIENTO “SOBER CURIOUS”
Por Natalie Kaufman y Avery Parker Escritor de El Caimán
El “mocktail” está en un momento de atención, y el Modelo es noticia vieja — al menos según Quinn Tetterton, un estudiante de teatro de segundo año de UF.
Tetterton dijo que sus amigos lo traen a lugares donde es una expectación social que todos tengan un Solo Cup o trago. Pero Tetterton está contento con sustituir el alcohol por bebidas que no son alcohólicas como Liquid Death, un producto de agua con gas hecho para parecerse como una lata de cerveza. Dijo que quiere sentirse incluido pero no intoxicado.
“Tener algo que parece como alcohol y padre en tu mano hace que parezcas mejor,” Tetterton dijo.
No está solo. Más de la mitad de sus compañeros de Gen Z han adoptado el estilo de vida sin alcohol debido a preferencias personales y mejoras de salud.
El cambio de actitud sobre la consumación de alcohol coincide con una altera nueva del gobierno que conecta el alcohol con siete tipos de cáncer. Mientras millones de estadounidenses se recuperan de crudas después del año nuevo, el cirujano general de los EE.UU Vivek Murthy publicó un informe que correlaciona el consumo leve de alcohol con un riesgo elevado
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para contraer cáncer de mama y cáncer del colon, entre cinco otras enfermedades crónicas.
Con su aviso el enero 3, Murthy propuso que el gobierno actualizará las advertencias actuales en bebidas alcohólicas para reflejar el riesgo de cáncer, algo que requeriría legislación del Congreso.
Pero los jóvenes estaban pensando en la abstinencia de beber alcohol antes del aviso. Campañas sociales para soportar la limitación del consumo de alcohol en mayores, como ‘sober curious’ y Enero Seco, se disparan en TikTok e Instagram en las últimas horas de 2024. Influyentes de salud aprovecharon la moda y crearon miles de videos de recetas de mocktails — bebidas sin alcohol diseñadas para imitar a cocteles.
Tetterton dijo que no está seguro si Enero Seco sobrevivirá por todo el año porque muchas resoluciones del año nuevo son fugaces. Para algunas personas, añadió, terminar el consumo de alcohol o beber bebidas saludables es más fácil en teoría que práctico.
Una separación con alcohol
Más y más, los estadounidenses han moderado su consumo de alcohol en las dos últimas décadas, un fenómeno motivado por la optimización de metas de salud, The Atlantic reportó en el último mes. Eso es cada vez más común por los jóvenes, las opiniones sobre beber alcohol de quienes están moldeadas por conversaciones de salud pública impregnadas de bienestar y autocuidado.
Alrededor de 60% de menos de 35 años dijeron que con-
sumen alcohol, frente al 72% de hace veinte años, según la encuesta de Gallup de 2024.
Dra. Sara Nixon, directora del Centro de Investigación y Educación sobre Adicciones de la UF, dijo que el acceso más fácil a la información médica ha dado lugar potencialmente al movimiento de “neo-temperance.” Pero entender los daños asociados con el consumo de alcohol no siempre es suficiente para que las personas reduzcan su consumo, dijo.
“Demande algún brío a veces para ser lo único que obviamente no está bebiendo [durante un evento social]”, Nixon dijo. “Si no tienes una ‘razón’ de no beber, puede ser algo estigmatizado”.
Las deficiencias de los movimientos de reducción del alcohol se reflejan en parte, según Nixon, en las tendencias en las operaciones de trasplante de órganos entre los adultos jóvenes.
La demanda de trasplante de hígado para adultos menores de 40 años con enfermedad hepática asociada al alcohol se cuadruplicó entre 2003 y 2018, según un estudio publicado en la Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina.
Lea el resto en línea en alligator.org/section/elcaiman.
@Nat_ nkaufman@alligator.org
@AveryParker98398 aparker@alligator.org
Síganos para actualizaciones Para obtener actualizaciones de El Caimán, síganos en línea en www.alligator.org/section/elcaiman.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2025
www.alligator.org/section/sports
MEN'S BASKETBALL
No. 5 Gators looking to bounce back as matchup with No. 1 Auburn looms
FLORIDA
(18-3, 5-3 SEC)
WILL PLAY NO. 24 VANDERBILT HOME ON FEB. 4 AND AT AUBURN FEB. 8
By Max Tucker Sports Writer
Last season, the Florida men’s hoops squad boasted its highest-scoring offense in program history. In 2024-25, UF nearly matched it. On Saturday, that was hardly recognizable.
Roughly 20,000 Tennessee fans packed Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, as the No. 8 Volunteers put on a fiery display without two of their key contributors: senior guard Zakai Zeigler and senior forward Igor Milicic Jr.
UT’s 64-44 thumping of the Gators came less than four weeks after UF notched a historic 30-point victory over then-No. 1 Tennessee at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
With the tables having seemingly turned, Florida head coach Todd Golden certainly took note of it.
“We couldn't seem to get downhill the way we normally do offensively,” Golden said. “We've been amazing offensively all year, and we looked terrible today, and I think a lot of that had to do with the way they guarded us, clearly, and they deserve a lot of credit for that.”
Perhaps an even bigger concern for UF is the health of its leading scorer, senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., who’s been nothing short of sensational this season. Clayton Jr. has averaged a team-high 17.4 points per game and recently set the program’s record for most
consecutive games with a 3-pointer — 44 and counting.
In the first half against Tennessee, Clayton Jr. looked the part amid Florida’s offensive woes. He scored 10 points before halftime, but with less than two minutes left until the break, he fell to the ground with an ankle injury and went to the locker room.
Clayton Jr. has been touted as a tough athlete throughout his college career, and Golden’s clarification of the injury only furthers that narrative.
“[Clayton Jr.] landed on his foot, sprained it, taped it up, gave it a good effort in the second half,” Golden said. “Obviously, he was not himself with his explosiveness, and we'll just have to take it day by day. I don't think it's crazy, crazy serious, but I'm sure he's pretty sore."
Not only will UF need its star point guard to swiftly return to full health, but the Gators will need to bounce back in a big way this week. It’s no secret the SEC has been a basketball powerhouse this season, boasting 10 teams ranked inside the Jan. 27 AP Top 25 poll.
The Gators already duked it out with two of the SEC’s ranked squads, but they’ll become more familiar with two more of them in the next five days.
No. 24 Vanderbilt aims to play spoiler in Florida’s next opportunity on the hardwood when the Commodores head to Gainesville Feb. 4 for a 7 p.m. matchup.
Despite being throttled on the road by 30 points to Oklahoma over the weekend, Vanderbilt has formidable victories over No. 12 Kentucky and Tennessee, much due to junior guard Jason Edwards who averages a team-high 17.5 points per game.
Lewis //
Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. (1) looks to pass as the Gators faced the Longhorns on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida.
However, UF sophomore forward Alex Condon knows just how much of an advantage a hostile O’Dome atmosphere can be when a ranked opponent comes to town.
"We have a lot of confidence when we play at home,” Condon said. “I think we played types of games where we started a little bit sluggish, but we usually get back into it. So, it's been an emphasis for the players to just come out ready to go.”
One of the keys to Florida’s success against the Commodores will be its backcourt returning to form. Clayton Jr. and fellow senior guards Alijah Martin and Will Richard combined for just 18 points and all finished below their season scoring averages against the Vols
on Feb. 1.
With a veteran backcourt comes a confident mentality and a trust within one another. That’s what Martin said the Gators will be relying on throughout the gauntlet that is the SEC.
“As the season goes on, we're going to continue to come in everyday, put the work in, keep getting better and of course the chemistry is going to click,” Martin said.
After Florida’s loss to Missouri Jan. 14, Golden noted that his squad lacked the underdog mentality that’s allowed the program to return to a level of prominence during his time in Gainesville.
UF will need to regain that mentality when it heads to Auburn to take on the No. 1 Tigers, a matchup that will likely be Florida’s most challenging to date.
AU has a handful of offensive playmakers, with five players averaging double-digit scoring marks. Senior forward Johni Broome leads the way, averaging a double-double with 18.3 points per game and 11.2 rebounds per game, while senior guard Chad Baker-Mazara averages 13 points per game and shoots a 40% clip from behind the arc.
Clayton Jr. has reiterated Golden’s narrative of the Gators being at their best when they play like the underdogs.
Only time will tell if this mentality returns against Auburn Feb. 8.
“I don't think [Golden] wants to just lose that mentality,” Clayton Jr. said. “You know, we work here to get here. You can't get to this point and then just… stop having that mentality.”
@Max_Tuckr1 mtucker@alligator.org
Jordan Basso ready to contribute at Florida after prestigious Division III career
BASSO IS THE ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER IN GETTYSBURG COLLEGE LACROSSE HISTORY
By Max Bernstein Sports Writer
Florida graduate student attacker Jordan Basso has never been a stranger to competing as an underdog. But now, as she enters her final season of collegiate eligibility, Basso has the chance to play for a team coming off a Final Four appearance.
The all-time leading scorer for Gettysburg College, a Division III school, has had a prestigious collegiate career thus far, but she’s had a more unconventional path to becoming a Florida Gator.
The New York state native received little attention coming out of
high school, but she carved her path through her four years playing for Gettysburg.
“I wanted to be an impact player, and I wanted to play,” Basso said. “At Gettysburg, they really gave me so much confidence and the opportunities that I needed.”
Basso served as a mainstay of the Gettysburg lineup throughout her four years at the program.
The 22-year-old seasoned attacker scored at least 100 points in three consecutive seasons en route to three Centennial Conference Attacker of the Year awards and three IWLCA First Team All-American nods.
“What stood out to us… was how dominant she was, and we didn't care that it was Division I, Division II, Division III,” Florida head coach Amanda O’Leary said. “You don’t just put up those big numbers without something substantial be-
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hind it.”
Basso led Gettysburg to an appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship her junior year. Her squad eventually lost to Middlebury 17-9 in a bout where Basso had two goals and two assists.
Following the championship appearance, Basso decided to put her name into the transfer portal with the intention of spending her final season at a Division I program.
“When we got to later in her career, and she knew she had that extra year of eligibility, the ball was very much in her court,” Gettysburg head coach Charlotte Hibbard said.
Basso was interested in several programs, but received a pleasant surprise when she heard from Florida.
“I wanted to experience something completely different than anything I had,” she said. “Playing at a [school like Florida], it’s a lot more
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of the glitz and the glam, and it’s a big southern school.”
With help from her family and Hibbard, she made the decision in June to transfer to Florida and make the 17-hour drive to her new campus in Gainesville. Basso believed adjusting from a school with only 3,000 people to one of the largest public schools in the country would be a unique challenge.
Basso said she was struck by the differences in her new surroundings, especially the humid weather and the vast campus.
However, Basso’s adjustment period with Florida’s team has been seamless since then.
“She jumped in with both feet from day one,” O’Leary said. “It’s tough coming from a new place… but she’s found her place instantly.”
O’Leary also said that Basso’s coachability on the field, combined with her fun nature off of it, has
been a great fit for the team. Basso’s former teammates, including Gettysburg senior midfielder Lauren O’Connell, have complimented her ability to adapt within any given program, both on and off the pitch.
“Jordan is super goofy and funny, despite her looking pretty locked in on the field,” O’Connell said. “She’s a great friend to have around for many laughs.”
With UF’s regular season nearing its start Feb. 7, Basso has high expectations for herself and her new Florida squad.
“Florida came off a Final Four run last year, so there’s definitely some pressure that comes along with that,” Basso said. “But I want to contribute to a great season this year.”
@maxbernstein23 mbernstein@alligator.org
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