Our Town 2017 JUL-AUG (High Springs & Alachua)

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CONTENTS

J U LY/ A U G U S T 2 0 1 7

G R E AT E R A L A C H U A C O U N T Y

| V O L . 1 5 | N O. 0 4

IN THIS ISSUE >> FOR THIS ISSUE WE DIVE INTO THE WORLD OF INVENTION AND TECHNOLOGY! WITHIN THESE PAGES YOU CAN READ ABOUT INNOVATION, NEW AND OLD, AND MEET SOME OF THE RESEARCHERS THAT HELP TURN SCIENCE FICTION INTO SCIENCE FACT.

FEATURE STORIES 20

BRAIN POWER Flying drones — with the power of thought? Indeed, students and faculty at UF are researching Brain Computer Interface Technology, which gives people the ability to control a drone merely by thinking.

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PROGRESS IN THE MAKING Progress Park, located just outside the City of Alachua, is a productive setting for the many bioscience, tech and other companies attracted to its site in North Central Florida.

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DIY CHARGING STATION Dealing with a tangle of wires resembling a pot of spaghetti noodles? Here’s a craft to help you find a place to hide those cords. This DIY problem-solver is just what the doctor ordered. And the best part of all is that it doubles as cute new home décor!

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GOING GREEN, SAVING GREEN Education and local government tap into sun’s energy to reduce costs using solar photovoltaic systems. Take a look at what neighboring communities are doing with solar energy.

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CONTENTS

J U LY/ A U G U S T 2 0 1 7

COLUMNS 40 NAKED SALSA

by Crystal Henry

58 EDUCATION MATTERS

by Christina Miller

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MADE IN THE CADE An update on the progress of Gainesville’s Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention, where inventions and innovators will be on display.

A TOY BOX FOR THE TINKERER This local nonprofit offers tools and technology — from electronics to 3-D printing — to launch startups.

116 28 REALITY CHECK Explore the world of virtual reality, where you can experience far-away lands without ever leaving your home.

THE ELEGANCE OF SCIENCE Winning art from the Marston Science Library and Florida Museum competition for UF students, staff and faculty.

120 36 THE SCIENCE OF BAKING Why does bread rise? Learn the chemistry behind baking bread and creating cupcakes and croissants.

MAGNETIC STIMULATION Learn about a pioneering therapy at UF’s Department of Psychiatry that can provide relief from depression.

82 HEALTHY EDGE

by Kendra Siler-Marsiglio

98 DIFFERENT NOTE

by Albert Isaac

144 EMBRACING LIFE

by Donna Bonnell

REVIEWS 66 GATE CRASHING

by Brian “Krash” Kruger

90 READING CORNER

by Terri Schlichenmeyer

124 42 FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR Meet Karolina Sanchewska, a 2017 UF Grad who has earned a Fulbright Research Scholarship.

48 FACT OR FICTION Can you tell the difference between bona fide inventions and false fabrications?

Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.

THEN AND NOW Read about some early inventions and how they’ve evolved over the decades.

INFORMATION

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100 Charity Winners

FROM THE SWAMP TO SHARK TANK Meet a pair of Gainesville innovators who made their way from our town to the popular ABC’s television show.

102 Taste of the Town 110 Community Calendar

134 68 NINETY-NINE BOTTLES How do brewers craft the perfect beer?

Learn about the fine art and science of fermentation.

74 THE ESCAPE ROOM You’re locked in a room and can’t get out until you and your team can solve the clues.

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UNPLUGGED What happens when you disconnect?

One college student’s experience traveling with minimal access to technology.

The articles printed in Our Town do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Tower Publications, Inc. or

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their editorial staff. Our Town Magazine endeavors

CODE BREAKING What’s in your DNA? UF researchers discuss the importance of studying the genetic code that makes us human.

to accept reliable advertising; however, we can not be held responsible by the public for advertising claims. Our Town Magazine reserves the right to refuse or discontinue any advertisement. All rights reserved. © 2017 Tower Publications, Inc.

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PUBLISHER Charlie Delatorre ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Hank McAfee

Anthony B. Agrios, MD Joseph S. Iobst, MD Jean C. Cook, MD Nicole Scogin, MD Shelley Russell, ARNP, CNM Julie Rischar, ARNP, CNM Kristen Cook, ARNP, CNM

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Albert Isaac editor@towerpublications.com MANAGING EDITOR Ericka Winterrowd ericka@towerpublications.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Gabrielle Calise, Cameron Cobb, Bianca Favata, Monica Humphries, Savanna Kearney, Michelle Cerulli McAdams, Stephanie Richards, Ashley Russell, Hayli Zuccola CREATIVE DIRECTION + DESIGN Hank McAfee, Neil McKinney ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Jenni Bennett jenni@towerpublications.com Helen Mincey helen@towerpublications.com Nancy Short nancy@towerpublications.com INTERNS Cameron Cobb, Ashley Russell

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CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS If you would like us to publicize an event in the greater Gainesville area, send information by the 1st day of the month prior to the next issue. For example, submissions for the March/April issue are due by February 1. All submissions will be reviewed and every effort will be made to run qualified submissions if page space is available.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR We want to hear from you. Send your letters to the attention of the editor at 4400 NW 36th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32606 or editor@towerpublications.com.

Letters must be signed and include a phone number in the event we need to contact you. (Your phone number will not be published.)

OUR TOWN MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY BY TOWER PUBLICATIONS, INC. REPRODUCTION BY ANY MEANS OF THE WHOLE OR PART OF OUR TOWN WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER IS PROHIBITED. VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE EDITORIAL PAGES DO NOT IMPLY OUR ENDORSEMENT. WE WELCOME YOUR PRODUCT NEWS. INCLUDE PRICES, PHOTOS AND DIGITAL FILES WITH YOUR PRESS RELEASE. PLEASE FORWARD PRODUCT SAMPLES AND MEDIA KITS TO REVIEWS EDITOR, OUR TOWN MAGAZINE, 4400 NW 36TH AVENUE, GAINESVILLE, FL 32606. WE CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR UNSOLICITED PRODUCT SAMPLES.

A Publication of Tower Publications, Inc. 4400 NW 36th Ave., Gainesville, Florida 32606 phone: 352-372-5468 fax: 352-373-9178

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EDITOR ’ S LET TER

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I’m a sucker for virtual reality, even if it’s nearly 200 years old. Here I am viewing old stereoscopic photos at the Matheson History Museum in Gainesville.

Invention, Technology and Science!

Whenever I see “Science!” written with that exclamation point, I think of the Thomas Dolby song, “She Blinded Me With Science.” Why is this important? Well, it’s not. But since my brain leans more toward music, writing and the arts, that’s what I tend to think about. Great song. Poetry in motion.

Truth be told, I’ve always been fascinated by science. As a youngster, I wanted to be a scientist (among other things) when I grew up. But while I was very interested in science, I wasn’t very good at it, mostly because of a dreaded discipline known as math.

But I enjoyed reading about science. I devoured volume after volume of our World Book Encyclopedia, especially the sections about human anatomy and rocket ships. I knew exactly how the Apollo Mission was going to work years before it launched. Oh, and don’t even get me started on science fiction.

But it wasn’t long before I realized science wasn’t the career for me. Nope. I was going to be an author. And a musician. And a photographer. And filmmaker.

So I got my English degree from UF and did the next most logical thing and went to work for the Office of the Medical Examiner. I got to see human anatomy up-close and personal in that field, and I experienced science vicariously through the work of the doctors, toxicologists and the other forensics experts. That job was a lot of things but it wasn’t dull.

Well, I left that world some 12 years ago, and now I’m a writer and editor. Occasionally, I even get to write about science. So with invention and technology in mind, we bring you this edition of Our Town magazine. We sent out our intrepid writers in search of stories about innovation and science, both cutting edge and commonplace.

I enjoyed reading these stories and I hope you will enjoy them too.

Albert Isaac, Editor-In-Chief 14 |

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While many in Gainesville take it easy, and then fire up the grill in celebration of Labor Day, an anticipated crowd of thousands will fill Bo Diddley Community Plaza for the 6th Annual Labor Daze Fest.

Labor Day “constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country,” according to the U.S Department of Labor, and Americans have celebrated the holiday for more than 100 years. In Gainesville, however, one local couple decided to do more for Gainesville’s labor force.

Several years ago, James and Trisha Ingle began a conversation about the lack of celebration of working people during the nationally recognized September holiday.

Soon after, Labor Daze Fest was born.

“It is, first and foremost, by locals for locals and about locals,” Trisha said in a 2013 interview. “I wanted to do something to celebrate the working-class people of this town. It’s Labor Day weekend, and there was nothing going on to celebrate the workers.

I wanted to encourage small business and a sense of community in that small business.”

The celebration offers myriad activities

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for children and adults alike. From five local bands and food trucks to a free rock wall and children’s activities, Labor Daze Fest offers something for everyone.

“We’ve got small businesses and non-profits and musicians and artists. Everyone in this town that works for a living is somehow involved, so it’s pretty neat,” Trisha said.

The first Labor Daze Fest attracted 1,000 visitors and 18 vendors, and it’s only grown since then.

“I think that, in and of itself, it shows how hungry people are to create a sense of community and encourage small business and local business to do something that’s not Wal-Mart or a multi-million dollar corporation,” Trisha said.

While the founders gear the event toward fun and relaxation, they also hope attendees will find empowerment and education.

“We wanted a combination of coming out and celebrating working people and a day to kick back and take it easy, as Labor Day should be, and at the same time, hook people up with where they should be,” James said. “There’s a real emphasis on empowering local people and having a good time at the same time.”

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CONTRIBUTOR S

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CAMERON COBB is a senior journalism major at the University of Florida as well as an Air Force veteran. She loves traveling, writing, ballet and all animals (her favorite being her rescue dog, Maggie). cameronacobb5@gmail.com

MONICA HUMPHRIES is a senior journalism student at the University of Florida. Beyond writing, she loves going to local concerts, traveling the world and exploring all Gainesville has to offer. monicamh@centurylink.net

BIANCA FAVATA is a third year advertising major at the University of Florida who was born and raised a Gator. She loves traveling, photography, painting, playing with her bunny and eating hot fudge sundaes. bfavata@ufl.edu

ASHLEY RUSSELL is a graduate student at the University of Florida majoring in Mass Communication.

In her spare time the Panama City native listens to lots of country music, goes looking for antique treasures and takes trips back home to the beach. achilds@ufl.edu

HAYLI ZUCCOLA is a New England native who enjoys listening to music and traveling. After graduating high school with her AA degree she got her Bachelor’s in Journalism from the University of Florida.

HayzDesigns@yahoo.com

GABRIELLE CALISE is a junior journalism major at the University of Florida and freelance writer.

In her spare time she enjoys collecting vinyl records, taking photographs and watching movies. gcalise@ufl.edu

MICHELLE CERULLI MCADAMS is a freelance writer and editor in Gainesville.

She is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism and Harvard University. She has written for Austin American-Statesman, AARP, The Boston Globe and other news outlets. michelle.cerulli@gmail.com

SAVANNA KEARNEY is a junior journalism major at the University of Florida and freelance writer. Her hobbies include reading, writing, taking photographs and petting dogs. savannak@ufl.edu

CRYSTAL HENRY is a freelance writer and columnist born and raised in West Texas. She received her B.S. in Journalism in 2006 from the University of Florida. She is in love with the Florida landscape. ces03k@gmail.com

STEPHANIE RICHARDS is a freelance writer and a native of suburban Chicago. She was the Story Editor for The Sturbridge Times Magazine before recently moving to Newberry from New England. She loves to exercise, volunteer and spend time with her family. sarichards7@gmail.com

JULY/AUGUST 2017

Impression: High Springs Collection of works depicting local and regional scenes by artist Robert Sowers

Save the date‌ September 23rd 2017 Art, wine & cheese at the Great Outdoors Opera House from 5pm - 9pm for more information: sowersfineart.com or call 239-285-9400

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TECHNOLOGY >> BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE

THE FUTURE IS NOW

Brain Power UF is Researching Brain-Computer Interface Technology W R I T T E N B Y S AVA N N A K E A R N E Y P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y G A B R I E L L E C A L I S E

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ooking back, it was thought that by 2017 we would have flying cars and teleportation devices integrated into everyday life. Although we may not be quite that advanced yet, there are plenty of new technologies on the rise that may soon be commonplace. Controlling computers with one’s mind? It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, but it’s real technology, and it’s being used in Gainesville.

Brain computer interfacing, or BCI technology, has been around since the 1970s, when it was developed at the University of California, Los Angeles. But the development goes back even further, to 1924, when Hans Berger, a German neuroscientist, invented the electroencephalogram (EEG), which detects brain activity. Since then, BCI technology has been constantly developing, and now students at the University of Florida are continuing this research.

Juan Gilbert, the chair of the UF Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) Department, said some students in his summer lab expressed an interest in BCI technology about four or five years ago, and they’ve been working with it ever since.

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Controlling the drones requires no prerequisites, skills or qualifications — the application system pulls the most diverse number of individuals from the applications pool for impartiality in the competition.

“These devices are headsets you can wear that read signals from your brain. And it’s non-obtrusive,” Gilbert said. “It sits on your head.”

Brain computer interfaces can be used for many purposes, as either a monitoring device or an input device.

“For example, if you’re studying, to what extent are you engaged? Another is to use it as a control. For example, flying drones,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert said the goal is to popularize BCI devices, “redesign them so that they’re more attractive to wear and create different applications for them … if people were to wear these on a regular basis, say like a wristwatch or something, it gets benefits.”

A wearable BCI device could possibly improve brain function over time, track brain health, or make discoveries about brain disease, he said. The devices require concentration, which is a form of regular exercise for the brain.

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“So, it has broader implications for usage,” Gilbert said.

Ivens Applyrs, a 23-year-old computer engineering student at UF, started working on brain computer interfaces with grad students in Gilbert’s lab about two years ago. Their work involves controlling drones with brainpower alone.

Applyrs said when neurons in the brain fire they give off an electrical current known as brainwaves. The BCI device is placed on the head and reads the brainwaves. As the user thinks ‘push’ repeatedly, the device reads the brainwaves connected to the thought, ‘push,’ and then the drone is able to lift off and move forward.

“So, essentially, your brain waves are able to push the device through the way that we are mapping it together,” Applyrs said.

There are two types of BCIs: invasive and noninvasive.

Invasive, which involves penetration of the skull into the brain, is used within the medical field. Invasive BCIs extract the richest PHOTOGRAPHY: GABRIELLE CALISE

TECHNOLOGY >> BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE

Students in the UF Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering facilitate the Second Annual Brain Drone Race. Competitors use brain computer interfacing, or BCI, technology to race drones.

Participants in the brain drone race competed for prizes such as drones and a brain trophy.

form of brain signals. Noninvasive BCIs, the kind used at UF, sit upon the head, but are more susceptible to feedback, such as hair, breathing and muscle responses.

“As more research has been done, noninvasive BCI devices have been implemented, so individuals could study it outside of the medical space,” Applyrs said.

The UF Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering launched the world’s first brain-drone race in 2016, and recently held the Second Annual Brain-Drone Race in the Florida Gymnasium on UF’s campus on April 15, 2017.

The race was open to anyone in the Gainesville area. Applyrs said the BCI team outsourced drones, but the UF team developed the actual response between drone and computer. Before the race, individuals wishing to participate filled out an application.

Controlling the drones requires no prerequisites, skills or qualifications — the application system pulls the most diverse

number of individuals from the applications pool for impartiality in the competition. Once these applicants are selected, they work with the technology, and those who have the best responses to the system are selected to participate in the race. During this preliminary work with the technology, the environment is quiet and relaxed, but during the race, there’s more noise, more people and more pressure. Last year, the race consisted of 16 competitors; this year there were eight.

“Those individuals that we select are essentially those who will be competing against each other, so it’s the best of the best.”

Competitors won prizes such as an Apple Watch, Beats Headphones and Visa gift cards.

“Having projects like this on a global scale where individuals could see the large application of it allows more interest in the field so more research can be done,” Applyrs said.

Chris Crawford, 27, is a Ph.D. student in human-centered JULY/AUGUST 2017

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computing and developer of UF’s BrainDrone Race system.

“The Brain-Drone Race was kind of an extension of the work that two of my colleagues and I began while we were early in our graduate careers — Marvin Andujar and France Jackson,” Crawford said. “Marvin had a background in brain computer interfaces and I had a background in robotics, and he approached me with the idea of combining the two technologies.”

Once they were able to connect the BCI devices with robots, they decided to set up the races.

“We kind of drew inspiration from some of the drag races and stuff you may have seen on ESPN,” Crawford said.

The first phase of putting on the BrainDrone Race is creating the ‘brains’ of the software.

“Think about it like a baby. When a baby’s born, it has to learn … when we buy a drone it’s smart enough to know how to respond to traditional inputs from keyboards or touchscreens, but the software doesn’t support how to actually connect that control system to what’s known as a brain computer interface pipeline,” Crawford said.

The second phase consists of coordinating multiple drones and multiple people to have a fair and objective race. For this, Crawford and his associates leveraged existing hardware and focused their energy on creating something new and innovative with BCI technology.

Crawford and his associates hope to extend this technology to somewhat of an Olympic sport, especially for people with disabilities.

“It puts a novel spin on how we think about competitions … traditionally, we’re using our physical bodies. So, this kind of opens up a new domain of where we can compete cognitively or just using our minds,” Crawford said.

There are no special skills needed to use a BCI device. As long as an individual can be trained to give cognitive commands, they can compete.

“When you talk about the brain drone race, that’s ultimately the goal, kind of making it a universal sport that people everywhere, from all different walks of life and abilities can compete in,” Crawford said.

GATOR-CADE INVENTION >> CADE MUSEUM OPENING EARLY 2018

INVENTIONS AND INNOVATORS AT GAINESVILLE’S NEWEST MUSEUM

Made in the Cade W R I T T E N B Y G A B R I E L L E C A L I S E | I L L U S T R A T I O N S C O U R T E S Y O F G W W O F R O M B A LT I M O R E

As construction of the spiraling metal and glass building on the edge of Depot Park approaches completion, the staff of the Cade Museum is working to prepare programs and exhibits to inspire creativity in the community.

The Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention, a $10 million project about 12 years in the making, will have a soft opening with limited entry around October. The grand opening will take place around January or February 2018. The time in-between these openings will be used to refine the visitor experience, said Stephanie Bailes, executive director of the museum.

Museum visitors will be able to explore the minds of creators and inventors while learning about the historical context that spurred innovations.

“We teach science concepts but we make it real, especially for the kids and for our visitors, by tying those concepts into invention and into history and connecting them with personalities,” Bailes said.

Bailes said that the museum will aim to teach about science through invention-themed exhibits.

“Certainly in Florida it is unique to a degree in our approach to science and invention, because all of our exhibits and all of our activities are created through the lens of invention rather JULY/AUGUST 2017

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INVENTION >> CADE MUSEUM OPENING EARLY 2018

The Fibonacci sequence is also one of the main inspirations for the Cade Museum’s unusual architecture.

than a topic,” Bailes said. “We try to take the science concept and wrap it around the time, the individuals involved … and the humanity of it.”

The museum will feature educational programs for both children and parents to enjoy. The museum team is currently in the process of planning programs and offerings for visitors.

For example, the museum will offer Cade Creativity Labs, which are different types of educational experiences, Bailes said.

The Creativity Lab is more oriented toward science, while the Fabrication Lab is geared toward engineering and technology.

The museum will also be launching a music lab that will provide opportunities such as music lessons. An Entrepreneur Lab will allow high school students to develop their own products and take them to market, and an Inventor Lab will allow participants to meet with inventors and entrepreneurs in the community.

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and the heart and the hands, meaning giving people the skills that they need and the ways of thinking to be successful in their lives — in third grade or in college or as adults,” Bailes said.

The mission of the Cade museum is to transform communities by inspiring and equipping future inventors, entrepreneurs and visionaries.

“We are very much focused on the east side of Gainesville — connecting those who may perhaps not have the same access or privileges or opportunities as others in the community,” Bailes said. “We’re hoping to help them by bringing them in and giving them access to education and creative experiences.”

The driving force behind the museum is Phoebe Miles, daughter of Gatorade inventor Dr. Robert Cade. Miles is the founder of the Cade Museum and has dedicated over a decade of her life to its creation. In Miles’ 2013 TEDxUF talk, “Creativity at the Crossroads,” she talks about how the Fibonacci sequence can be seen in nature, from pine cones to sunflowers. The Fibonacci sequence is also one of the main inspirations for the Cade Museum’s unusual architecture.

Bailes hopes that the building will be a good complement to Depot Park and the city of Gainesville.

“I think it makes the park even more dynamic than it already is and will continue to help this area become vibrant and an outlet for the community,” she said.

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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY >> VIRTUAL REALITY

IS IT REAL OR IS IT MEMOREX?

Reality Check Exploring the Immersive Universe of Virtual Reality W R IT TEN BY A S H LE Y RUS S E LL

S

napping on a bulky headset that blocks out all natural light and the outside world sounds like something from a strange nightmare. But these headsets may be the very things that will change how people experience the world. Virtual reality is becoming more accessible. Perhaps now is the time for it to thrive.

But, then again, they have thought that before.

Virtual reality has so much more to offer than just gaming. It is likely that we will soon be using virtual reality technology in our everyday lives. Imagine taking a field trip with your class to an exotic rainforest and learning about the dangerous animals without the risk. What if you could train for your job without fear of messing up? With virtual reality you will be able to go places you’ve never been able to go.

You will have the ability to do things that were too risky in real life.

Virtual reality has a stigma of being a futuristic technology. What most people don’t realize is how far back the roots of virtual reality run. People have been experimenting with virtual reality since the 1830s. Since then the progress has been sluggish. The field did not even have an official name until 1987, when Jaron Lanier coined the name “virtual reality.” VR has been in progress for hundreds of years, but still has so much to gain before it reaches its full potential.

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Stereosco Stereo scopic pic phhoto tograaphi p c viewss (ste (stereo reogra gra raphs p ) were phs ere im mmen mee sel sely p popu op lar in opu i the United d Sta S tes es and Eu Europ ro e from from about the midid-185 1850s 0s thr throug oughh the the early ear a lyy yea years r of the 20 20th th cenntur tury. y. Fir First Fi st descri des cribed bed in 18 1832 32 by Eng Englis lishh phys physici icist st Sir Ch Charl arles es Whe Wheats atston tone, e, ste stereo reosco scopy py wass im impro proved ved d by by S David Sir d Brews wster in 18849.

9 Th Thee prod o uct ction ion of th thee ster stereog eograp raphh entaaile iled d maki aking ng g two im image agess of age of the the h samee subj sam subj u ectt, usua usua sually lly lyy wi with th a came came amera ra witth ttwo ra wo len lenses pl lenses place aced d 2.5 2.55 inch inc nches hes (6 (6 cm cm)) apar apartt to to simu simuulat atee the the he pos ositi os itiion ition on off the hhuum man an ey eyes, es annd then mounting ng thhe positiv t e prints sid side byy side laterall a y on a stiff baacking.

Breewst wster dev devise i ed d a stereoscope through g which the finis nished hed st stere ereogr ograph aph co could uld be viewe e d; the stereo oscope had d tw two o eye pie pieces c through which the later e ally moun ounted ted im image ages, s, pla placed ced in a hol holder der in front of the leenses, weree vview wer iew e ed. e Th Thee two images were brought togethe herr by by the the eff effort ort of the hhuman brain to create an illusi ill u on usi o off thr th ee e dim eedimens ension io ality.

SOURCE: BRITANNICA.COM

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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY >> VIRTUAL REALITY

Google Cardboard is an attempt to bring the VR world to the consumer by making it an affordable option. Made from cheap materials, but still effective, you can take this 3-D immersive experience anywhere you go.

There are now hundreds of apps you can download on your phone that are compatible with Google Cardboard.

With your phone and the viewer, you can virtually ride rollercoasters, swim in the depths of the sea, and go on ghost hunts from anywhere.

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Virtual reality has hit some bumps along its long road. One of the biggest obstacles has been the high price of the technology. It has taken years, but a cost-effective option has finally arrived.

cardboard and others are cheap plastic. There are even tutorials for constructing headsets from items lying around the house. The idea is to spark interest in the industry without requiring customers to make

“People need to explore VR — see its potential and ask how their occupation or hobbies could benefit from VR.” Dr. Benjamin Lok, a professor at the University of Florida, researches virtual environments and virtual reality. Lok sees the opportunity that lies within virtual worlds, and for him, the price is right for those looking to purchase VR. “What was once tens of thousands of dollars is now a mainstream commercial product to consumers,” Lok said in a recent email interview. “The size of the equipment is much smaller and more ergonomically comfortable.”

Many companies are offering viewfinders that hold your phone for pennies. Some are made from

an immediate investment. Because almost everyone has a smartphone now, VR is becoming more accessible. Even more advanced VR equipment has come down in price significantly in the last five years.

Along with the price drop, other things are changing for virtual reality. What once was viewed merely as a gaming platform now has more practical applications.

“The biggest hindrance is if people do not see the value of using VR in more of their lives, be it education, training, or their jobs. Right now many people see VR as a gaming platform only,” Lok said.

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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY >> VIRTUAL REALITY

An engineering student controls a virtual doctor (above) that is made to simulate a real doctor. The doctor avatar even has animatronic legs.

Michael Borish, Ph.D. (below) explores a virtual world using an Oculus Rift in the Virtual Experiences Research Group directed by Professor Benjamin Lok, Ph.D. Lok (right) researches virtual environments and human-computer interaction.

He teaches classes on virtual reality use at the University of Florida.

The truth is, VR is already being used in many fields. But Lok believes many people are still missing out on an enormous opportunity. There are so many people yet to discover the possibilities of the technology.

“People need to explore VR,” Lok said. “See its potential and ask how their occupation or hobbies could benefit from VR.” The possibilities for VR are vast. With the technology that has developed recently, there’s a possibility everyone may be seeing many more things in 3-D in the near future.

The future isn’t completely rosy, however. As with any innovation, virtual reality comes with great responsibility. With a medium so realistic, it may be easy to cross the ethical code.

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make a user feel phantom pains. The result could be considered somewhat like torture if it is used wrongly. The power is in the control of the app developers. Of course, the user could always just rip the headset off if it gets too intense.

Lok is not as worried about the dark side of VR. For Lok, virtual reality is just another tool. Lok said the line that shouldn’t be crossed is “the same as any other medium.”

“The benefit of VR is that the high level of immersion appears to generate the feeling of being there,” he said.

And that is precisely what makes VR appealing. Virtual reality has the power to take you where you have always wanted to go without leaving home. After all, who doesn’t want to escape the real world every now and then?

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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY >> VIRTUAL REALITY

A BRIEF TIMELINE OF VR DEVICES 1838 The basic groundwork of VR technology came from stereoscopes, which were viewfinders with similar pictures in each side.

The result tricked the mind into thinking the two photos were one 3-D image.

1957 The Sensorama was created. Interestingly enough, its inventor, Morton Helig, was dubbed the Father of Virtual Reality. The Sensorama was an oversized bulk of a machine that allowed viewers to see a 3-D image.

It also catered to the other senses using gimmicky tricks, like blowing wind and a vibrating seat.

1938 One hundred years later, little had been done to improve upon the stereoscope until the View-Master came along. This device was originally geared toward adults for entertainment purposes. oses.

The company soon found that children were drawn to the technology.

The ViewMaster was later rebranded and went on the shelves as a children’s toy.

1961 Headsight was invented as a top-secret military project. This head-tracking VR device connected to closed circuit television and was used to view areas too dangerous to visit in person.

1968 The Sword of Damocles, named after a Roman parable, was a VR machine that hung from the ceiling and connected to a computer. The graphics were very simple. Between the ceilingmounted viewfinder and the need to be strapped to the machine, the contraption was quite scary looking.

1984 The first VR glove 1991 Virtual Reality Arcade Machines came on the scene. These multi-player games had basic graphics — and made many of its players feel nauseous.

2001 SAS Cube emerged as the first PC based cubic room. The SAS3 used projectors to cast stereoscopic images on three walls and the floor of the cubic space. The user wore a 3-D headset and held devices that had motion sensors. This way the user could interact and move around the virtual space by simply moving their head or their handheld device.

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controllers were created to go with the headsets, and they called it “Reality Built for Two” or RB2. The entire setup cost $100,000.

2016 Fast forward to 2016 and virtual reality has taken a turn again. Virtual reality options now range from a $15 Google Cardboard to a $3,000 HTC Vive. The biggest expense now lies in the computer that is equipped to process VR. Because of the popularity of smartphones, virtual reality has become more accessible to those who cannot afford more expensive equipment. The graphics have gotten a makeover, and feel more realistic.

SOURCE: NCSSM.EDU, VRS.ORG, PCMAG.COM

WELL-TRAVELED STUDENTS Using virtual field trip technology, schools can now take students on adventures without leaving the classroom. The software allows classes to use headsets that give users a 3-D, panoramic view of new places. Incredible places such as the Great Barrier Reef become more fathomable when you have virtual reality to inform those who have never visited. With VR, once-dangerous locations, such as rainforests or deserts, become learnable environments for everyone.

VIRTUAL MEDICINE The medical field is revamping virtual technology for life-saving purposes. VR is now being used to train nurses, doctors and surgeons.

Instead of testing their skills on patients or cadavers, the practitioners get to test on a virtual person first. Psychiatrists are also taking advantage of the new advancements.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information revealed that psychiatrists are using VR for patient therapy. Participating psychiatrists put patients with phobias into virtual scenarios that they fear and examine their reactions. Then, they can treat the patients accordingly and examine possible factors that can reduce anxiety.

HANDS-ON TRAINING Soon VR will likely be used in many job markets for training. The interactive and realistic nature of VR makes it a perfect candidate for safe training. VR can be used for military and police training, and has already been adopted in some places. VR can also be used to run trials for overly expensive experiences, such as space missions.

SHOPPING SAVVY In the future, shopping may also become a virtual experience. Hypothetically, consumers could shop for their favorite brands and even try clothes on a model of their exact proportions using VR. The groundwork for this kind of shopping would be extensive and may take a few more years. Hotels and tourism departments are already making use of VR. Virtual tours are available on YouTube for some destinations. The immersive tours are likely to become more popular in the upcoming years.

ANTI-SOCIAL INTERACTION Online chat rooms and Sims computer games step aside, social likenesses can now be created that can interact in VR. Instead of typing on keyboards, people can talk to each other in real time.

Facebook recently unveiled its answer to the desire for virtual social media with Spaces.

This app allows users to create avatars that interact with one another. People can talk, share 360 degree photos, share photos in real time, and explore in 3-D.

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KITCHEN SCIENCE >> BAKING CHEMISTRY

IT’S NOT A PIECE OF CAKE TO BAKE A PRETTY CAKE

Swirled cakes are made using a jellyroll pan. After the cake cools, the filling is added and the cake is gently rolled into a log.

THE SCIENCE OF BAKING

Kitchen Chemistry W R I T T E N B Y H AY L I Z U CCO L A

Cooking is a process that can be rather forgiving.

Heating up a sauce longer than a recipe calls for or experimenting with swapping out various ingredients doesn’t have too much of a dramatic effect on the flavor or the end result of a dish. Macaroni and cheese with slightly overcooked pasta and Gouda is still macaroni and cheese. Baking, on the other hand, is much more precise. Wet ingredients react with dry while cold ingredients combine with hot (or room temperature) components, which make baking more like a science experiment rather than a culinary hobby. Too much flour here or not enough liquid there could result in flat, lifeless muffins or a giant overflowing batter volcano. So what actually goes on when the oven door shuts? And why are these delicious baked goods so persnickety?

According to the ColumbusDispatch.com article by Charlie 36 |

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Boss, “Cakes & Chemistry: The Science of Baking,” each ingredient in a baking recipe has a specific purpose. He used cake as an example, saying, “Flour provides the structure; baking powder and baking soda give the cake its airiness; eggs bind the ingredients; butter and oil tenderize; sugar sweetens; and milk or water provides moisture.”

While eggs, butter and milk are simple to swap and replace in a recipe — opting for applesauce, coconut oil or almond milk, respectively — baking powder and baking soda can be more fickle (but just as important) in creating both light and fluffy desserts.

Paul Sarnoski, who has a Ph.D. in Food Science Technology and is an assistant professor in the Food Science and Human Nutrition department at the University of Florida, noted that there are three different types of leavening agents, which gives a cake or bread its rise. There are biological leavening agents such as yeast, which breaks down sugars and creates carbon dioxide; mechanical

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Desserts like croissants get their flaky texture from folding pastry dough around ice-cold butter. The act of rolling and folding gives this French classic its distinct layers.

Cobblers are less particular, but the topping, like with a piecrust, is still made with cold butter to give a crumbly texture.

For some varieties of donuts, besides getting rise from yeast, other ingredients are used as yeast nutrients, such as calcium sulfate and ammonium sulfate.

The ancient Egyptians fashioned the first crude pastries out of grain meal flavored with honey, fruits and spices.

Today we have hundreds of pastry flavors and varieties.

leavening agents, which result from mixing, blending or whipping a batter or dough; and finally there are chemical leavening agents obtained from ingredients like baking powder and baking soda.

“Baking soda gives you a source of carbon dioxide (CO2 ).

The act of carbon dioxide release causes bread or a cake to rise,” Sarnoski explained further in an email interview. “For the baking soda to generate carbon dioxide you need an acid to start the reaction that generates CO2 release. If there is enough acid naturally in the food, then you can probably get away with just using baking soda. If the food is not acidic, then you probably need to use baking powder. The baking powder contains baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and acids. Some of the acids will start to work when everything is combined into a batter, and some start to work upon heating, which gives you [an] additional rise in the oven.”

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Those two reactions result from what are known as fast acids and slow acids. Fast acids work as soon as they come into contact with something else and give an initial release of CO2; for example mixing dry ingredients with wet ingredients. Sarnoski said, “Once you sort of put those two things together they start reacting,” which is why recipes usually call for keeping milk, eggs and butter separate from dry ingredients like flour, sugar and baking powder. Slow acids take longer and don’t start working until they come into contact with heat.

In addition to wanting a specific speed of reaction from baking powder and baking soda, the temperature of the other ingredients in a recipe is also important. Making desserts, such as a piecrust or scones, calls for cold ingredients, such as ice-cold butter and frozen mixing bowls. According to the Victorian House Scones article “Some Chilling Facts about Butter and Scone Dough,” the butter is meant to melt in the oven not on your hands or in the mixing bowl.

SOURCE: CHEMISTRYISLIFE.COM, FOODREFERENCE.COM

According to the article, you want the butter to melt in the oven, “freeing up space and creating minute steam pockets of expanding gases, which aid in the rise of the dough. If the butter melts before you get the dough to the oven, you lose those pockets of gas expanding, leaving you with a denser baked product.”

Besides keeping wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls and controlling the temperature of the ingredients used, the oven temperature is just as important.

“The temperature is going to affect the rate of reaction. If you have a higher temperature you probably have more CO2 production,” Sarnoski said. “Higher temperature kills off yeast faster and can affect the rate you get the leavening and the amount of leavening you get is dependent on [the] temperature.”

Yeast, which is used in making bread, is a living organism and a type of fungi similar to mushrooms. According to the RedStarYeast. com article “The Science of Yeast,” yeast eats the sugar and then produces more CO2, but if the temperature is too hot, the yeast will die. So remember that setting the oven to 500 degrees doesn’t necessarily mean that loaf of bread bakes any quicker — if anything, the bread will hardly rise at all because the yeast would be destroyed.

Bread is also complicated when it comes to gluten. While most people know gluten as “that thing people are allergic to,” gluten is actually a protein that is present in wheat and is therefore in flour. When kneading dough, you are actually building the gluten, which Sarnoski said, gives dough its elasticity. Kneading too long or not long enough can result in bread that hardly rises or becomes too dense.

Although it would be much easier to throw every ingredient into a large bowl, mix it together, throw it in an oven and create a tasty dessert, croissants, scones and almost every other baked good are quite complex.

It’s important to read recipes carefully and know that even though it’s a lot of work babysitting butter, and keeping the eggs and flour away from one another until it’s time to comingle, and watching the batter in the oven like a hawk, it can be worth it in the end because golden cupcakes, flaky biscuits, chewy cookies and fruity pie all make their way to the same place: the dinner plate.

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COLUMN

CRYSTAL HENRY’S

Naked Salsa GOOD AT MY JOB

CRYSTAL HENRY IS A FREELANCE WRITER AND COLUMNIST BORN AND RAISED IN WEST TEXAS. SHE RECEIVED HER B.S. IN JOURNALISM IN 2006 FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA. SHE IS IN LOVE WITH THE FLORIDA LANDSCAPE. ces03k@gmail.com

I WAS WORKING FULLTIME AT A WEB DEVELOPMENT COMPANY WHEN I GOT PREGNANT WITH MY FIRST-BORN.

M

y career had always been one of the most important things in my life, but I was really excited about the idea of being able to run to the store in the middle of the day if I wanted to. I mean, yes, I was pumped about the baby too, but I fantasized about the lazy mornings I’d have once I quit my job to stay home to take care of my little bundle.

My oldest child was very much planned, and part of that planning was making adjustments so that I could stay home with her. It wasn’t because of my ovaries, but we’d agreed that when we had kids whoever made the most money would keep working, and the other would stay home to take care of the baby. This was a divide-and-conquer approach that we could live with, so my communications degree happened to be less lucrative than his engineering degree.

Still I worked up until the hour she was born. I remember lying in the hospital bed dilated to 10 cm on the phone with my boss asking him to conference me in with Pepsi. I’d worked really hard on that account, and my epidural was working great. I figured I could slip one last call in before my life changed forever.

That call was another reason I quit my job when she was born.

I am a dedicated employee, and I was so ready to be a mother.

But I have a hard time with my work-life balance. And I knew that factoring in a complete lack of sleep was going to mean I’d be a terrible human. So I embraced my stay-at-home life.

The first few months were a sleepless blur of just trying to function in my new exhausting world. By about month four, my afternoon trips to the store were the highlight of my day; there was no such thing as a lazy morning and I started missing adult interaction. By the time Sunny was 6 months old I’d started freelancing again, and I started making mom friends. I found my new normal. But it honestly felt good to have that one foot in the working world. I was so afraid that I wouldn’t be relevant anymore when I decided to go back.

I maintained my stay-at-home status for two years before I started thinking about going back to work. The plan had always been for me to stay home until our kids were in elementary

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school. But the one kid we had was in preschool two mornings a week, and I started fantasizing about work lunches. As it was I was more on-the-go than stay-at-home.

I’m a terrible housekeeper, so I stayed away at play dates and library story times to stay out of the house. The more we were home the messier it got, and that toddler wasn’t a super big help when it came to dishes and laundry. So we were out.

Around the time I entertained the idea of going back to the office, I started feeling super grouchy and tired. What I thought was a bit of a cranky phase was actually the early signs of pregnancy.

Since I was pregnant with my second, and for sure my last, baby, I decided to put the job hunt on hold. I ramped up the freelance work, but I once again found my new identity as a mother of two. Around the two-year mark with child number two, I got the itch to go back. But that was also around the time that my oldest entered kindergarten. So I once again embraced the stay-at-home life until my youngest was finishing preschool.

With my mornings to myself, I cautiously put my resume out into the universe just to see if I was even still relevant. At that exact moment, the universe just so happened to need a publicist at a PR firm. Within a day of cautiously inching back into the working world, I was plunged headfirst into a dream job offer. It was a part-time opportunity that could work into full-time if I wanted it. The benefits were free food and drinks at the swanky client restaurants and bars. And I got to make my own hours, so that I could still mom super hard and be a professional.

But what followed was a nasty little secret I’ve discovered called Mommy Guilt. I’ve worked full-time, and I was great at it. I’ve stayed home with my kids, and I was fine. But this is completely new territory, and I think it might be more terrifying than natural childbirth. Now I get to simultaneously juggle the two things I’ve wanted most, and I’m just hoping to get through one day at a time. I was really floundering in the first two weeks, trying to juggle the guilt with the kids and the job.

Until my oldest daughter, the one who originally took me from the working world, left a paper on the counter she’d written in class.

She wrote “My mom is beautiful because she’s good at her work and she loves us the most.” I took a picture of that little fill-in-the-blank prompt, and whenever my day seems off balance I can look at it and know all that’s required of me is to be good at my work and love my kids the most. And that is a beautiful thing.

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FULBRIGHT RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP >> KAROLINA SANCHEWSKA

FEELIN’ GREEN

Moss Boss Karolina Sanchewska Earns Fulbright Scholarship to Research Mosses in Poland S TORY A ND PHOTOG R A PHY

BY MICH E LLE CE RU LLI MC A DA M S

M

oss grows where nothing else can grow. It grows on bricks. It grows on tree bark and roofing slate. It grows in the Arctic Circle and in the balmiest tropics; it also grows on the fur of sloths, on the backs of snails . . . A single clump of mosses can lie dormant and dry for forty years at a stretch, and then vault back again into life with a mere soaking of water.

-Elizabeth Gilbert, from “The Signature of All Things” Karolina Sanchewska, a 2017 graduate of the University of Florida’s School of Forest Resources and Conservation, was at home with her husband, Gabriel, this past January when she got the news she had long awaited: an email saying she was a finalist for a Fulbright Research Scholarship.

“I just ran around the house, hopping up and down, screaming,” said Sanchewska, who applied to the program last fall.

After that auspicious email came a second interview — this one, a Skype call with the Fulbright Commission in Poland, where she proposed to do her research. It was another few weeks before Sanchewska found out that she had

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The moss-filled terrarium Sanchewska made two years ago has become a vibrant new world.

She hopes to provide scientists with precise measurements of the amount of deadwood necessary to sustain moss life — and in turn, the life of the species that depend on it — in the Bialowieza Forest.

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Sanchewska inspects a patch of moss (below) with her jewelers loupe in Alfred A. Ring Park.

Moss is like a miniature forest, Sanchewska said. She will collect moss samples and create a catalogue of mosses that live on deadwood in Poland during her research.

made the cut and her proposed project — studying unknown mosses in Poland’s Bialowieza Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage site — was going to be a reality.

One of the most prestigious and competitive scholarships in the world, the Fulbright Program supports students in pursuing research, teaching English, or studying abroad in more than 155 participating countries. The program was established in 1946 to increase mutual understanding and friendly relations between the people of the U.S. and other countries.

Sanchewska describes the program’s mission as “promoting cultural exchange between [students’] home and host countries.”

She is perhaps uniquely prepared to do this seeing as she was born in Poland. Her family moved to South Florida when she was a baby.

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From Poland to Florida and back Sanchewska and her husband will head to her birth country to begin her nine-month to yearlong Fulbright journey this September.

Her three-tiered project, which combines her love of science, art and community, will primarily involve creating a catalogue of all of the species of mosses in Poland that live on deadwood — a complete list of which doesn’t exist.

A patch of moss “basically is like a miniature forest but on a completely different level,” said Sanchewska, who, in addition to her studies, worked as a florist at Publix. In a forest, there are prey and predators and great biodiversity, she explained, and the same is true for moss. “There’s [the equivalent of ] little lions running around and their prey running away from them.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: PROVIDED COURTESY OF KAROLINA SANCHEWSKA

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PHOTO BY DHARMADHYAKSHA

FULBRIGHT RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP >> KAROLINA SANCHEWSKA

As part of her project, she’ll discern the ecologic needs of mosses, such as amount of sunlight, moisture and the kind of deadwood on which they need to survive. She hopes to provide scientists with precise measurements of the amount of deadwood necessary to sustain moss life — and in turn, the life of the species that depend on it — in the Bialowieza Forest.

The UF graduate said that now is an especially important time to be doing this work, as the Bialowieza Forest, the largest remaining patch of virgin forest in Europe and one of the last primary forests left in the world, is under threat due to governmental forestry operations.

Logging began in non-protected areas of the forest last year despite protests from environmental groups. These operations don’t leave behind a lot of deadwood, and without it, it is difficult for moss to survive, she said.

“It’s the same thing with the rainforest; you can’t be destroying it before you even know what potential it has,” Sanchewska said. “And as we have seen very often with species elimination, you don’t know how much a species is really doing in the larger picture until it’s gone. …To start eliminating [mosses] right and left is going to have consequences that we will only be discovering over time.”

While Sanchewska is collecting samples and creating a master catalogue, she’ll also be capturing photos of the mosses she finds. To do this, she’ll rely on her background in nature photography. Since many people don’t know much about moss, the art aspect of her project will tie into the community component.

“I want to use beautiful photos of moss to help connect people to them and learn about them and feel emotional about them,” said Sanchewska, who hopes to create field guides for identifying mosses for scientists and non-scientists alike.

“In Poland, there’s a tradition of collecting mushrooms in the forest; that’s a pretty big deal. So I imagine that while [people] are out there collecting mushrooms, they see a lot of mosses so then they can learn about those as well.”

Sanchewska plans to give talks about her work at science festivals and universities. She also hopes to present workshops to elementary-school children and lead them on field trips into the woods — in her ideal world, providing a jewelers loupe, or magnifying glass, to each child.

“When you use a loupe, a whole other world opens up to you,” she said.

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Mosses: A love story Though Sanchewska has always been interested in mosses, bromeliads and other epiphytes — what she calls “weirdo plants” — it was her year as an intern at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables that made her realize her future was in botany.

She has a permanent reminder of her year spent there: a green-inked bromeliad tattoo on her right forearm. She calls her journey leading up to the Fulbright as twisting as some of the mosses she loves.

After Sanchewska graduated from high school in 2011, she started at a local college near her home in Hollywood, Fla. She was there for a year, taking classes of interest, but she wasn’t happy or feeling challenged.

“I knew that to get a job, you need education and you need experience, so I thought, ‘Alright, I guess I’m going to work on the experience for now,’” Sanchewska said. That’s when she found out about Fairchild.

The botanic garden was impressed with her application and offered the then-18-yearold a yearlong internship. Sanchewska started off driving her scooter from Hollywood to Coral Gables and back each day, enthusiastic for the experience and eager to learn everything she could. As part of the internship, she was given the opportunity to do her own research. Sanchewska was hooked.

After the internship ended, she spent the next two years working to save money and visiting friends and family. She began dating

her future husband during this time as well and eventually proposed to him.

Sanchewska was soon eager to get back into the botanical world and finish college.

She applied and got into UF, and she and Gabriel moved to Gainesville in 2015.

UF professor Stephanie Bohlman, Ph.D., said that in a forest ecology class of 50 students, Sanchewska stood out, thanks to her initiative and passion.

“She was one of the people asking questions the most; she is very inquisitive,” Bohlman said. “I am very delighted that she got [the scholarship] but not entirely surprised. It’s a great fit for her and a great project.”

The future beyond Fulbright Sanchewska is keeping her mind and options open for what comes after her time abroad. She eventually wants to pursue a doctorate in botany but is not sure where or when that will be.

Long term, she’s also interested in epiphyte restoration in the Amazon rainforest, as well as learning more about revamping moss populations. But for now, she’s focused on the year ahead.

“I am really excited to start working on my research and share all of the wonderful things about Poland — which includes the food, the culture, the people, the nature — with my husband, and to just get to experience them myself again,” she said.

PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHELLE MCADAMS

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WEIRD SCIENCE >> INVENTIONS & DISCOVERIES

STR ANGER THAN FICTION

Weird Science Can You Distinguish Between the Carefully Created or the Fabulously Fabricated?

W RIT TE N BY C A MERON COBB

A

tomato-feeding robot; a gel that can withstand bullets; language-translating headphones… are these the next big breaks in science and technology, or just all the props necessary for a cheesy, low-budget sci-fi film?

Read on to see if there’s any truth to these intriguing innovations or if the seemingly ridiculous is simply just that … ridiculous!

A ROBOT THAT RIDES ON YOUR BACK AND FEEDS YOU TOMATOES WHILE YOU RUN A MARATHON. Say hello to “Tomatan,” and say goodbye to the difficulty of eating tomatoes while doing other things.

Kagome, Japan’s largest supplier of both ketchup and tomato juice, created “Tomatan” to provide the perfect solution for people on the go, according to ibtimes.co.uk. This 18-pound machine sits on your shoulders and offers tomatoes by moving a small lever located on the robot’s “foot.” Kagome claims this to be beneficial for runners (such as participants in the Tokyo marathon), as tomatoes contain an abundance of nutrients that boost energy and help counter lethargy. The company partnered with a Japanese artistic studio called Maywa Denki, and the idea grew from there.

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“Tomatoes are excellent with sports but we do not see that any athletes eat tomatoes at sports events,” notes Shigenori Suzuki, Ph.D., a scientist at Kagome, the Japanese producer of Tomato-based products. They realized that there’s one thing that bananas have that tomatoes don’t: “Tomatoes do not have mobility.”

So the company partnered with Maywa Denki, the wonderfully whimsical art duo who create all sorts of gizmos. The tongue-in-cheek production resulted in Tomatan, a tomato-shaped robot that sits on your shoulders and feeds you tomatoes as you run.

SOURCE: SPOON-TAMAGO.COM

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WEIRD SCIENCE >> INVENTIONS & DISCOVERIES

A PEN WITH EVERY IMAGINABLE COLOR OF INK. Crayons may be facing some competition when it comes to color variety.

Scribble resembles your everyday pen as far as outer appearance and size goes, but there’s more. This device contains a color sensor so users can capture and recreate any hue just by pointing it to the item or surface. With the click of a button, the scan is complete, and you can draw on paper and reproduce the color as if you’d extracted ink directly from the object. What’s more, Scribble’s technology can save colors to a mobile device. Scribble is an artist’s dream.

3-D PRINTERS CAN CREATE ORGANS 1977 brought us the first color printout. And now barely 40 years later, ink-jet printers have paved the way for “printing” plastic (yet durable) tools, aircraft parts, life-size models of babies from ultrasounds, anatomical parts … you know, like the ones found on the human body.

Certain types of metals and plastics can be fashioned by 3-D printers into structures such as bones and joints, and scientists are even experimenting with using human cells as “ink,” which could introduce a whole new level in the already-amazing world of 3-D printing, according to nature.com. Additionally they hope to create synthetic blood vessels with 3-D printing. Scientists are already using the machines to print tiny strips of organ tissue. And while printing whole human organs for surgical transplants is still years away, the technology is rapidly developing.

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SCIENTISTS SPLICED SPIDER GENES WITH GOAT GENES TO GET SILK FROM GOAT MILK Maybe “The Simpsons” television show wasn’t too far off with their famous SpiderPig movie character … they just picked the wrong farm animal.

Spider silk is elastic and highly durable, outshining almost any other competing manmade fiber, b r, according be accor o ding to to the National

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Science Foundation website (nsf.gov). The silk has piqued the interests of researchers for use in artificial tendons, bulletproof vests and car airbags.

Harvesting silk from spiders is difficult because of the territorial nature of spiders.

It’s not easy keeping a multitude of the creatures together without them killing one another. Thankfully, goats don’t mind sharing space as much. A team of researchers cloned the genes for the protein making up the silks produced by spiders and placed those in goats. Now the goats are able to replicate the protein in their milk. The goat milk is collected and the silk protein is purified and spider silk is produced — at far larger quantities than spiders can offer. Spider silk could prove to be extremely useful in the medical field, for treating facial injuries and eye sutures, and possible use in jaw repair.

• Three and four year olds love order and consistency.

• The activities within a classroom draw three and four year olds to them.

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WEIRD SCIENCE >> INVENTIONS & DISCOVERIES

LANGUAGE-TRANSLATING EARPIECES — THAT DO SO IN REAL-TIME. Speak someone else’s language — minus the months of lessons.

It might sound like something from Star Trek, but the Pilot earpiece

by Waverly Labs breaks down language barriers with a device roughly the size of the tip of your thumb. Sold in pairs, the technology works by having two (or more) users slip a bud into an ear and simply engage in conversation, while a smartphone app translates the spoken word. The earpieces use noise-canceling microphones to filter out ambient noise from the speech of someone talking. The speech is then passed through the Pilot app, where layers of speech translation technologies occur. The magic happens simultaneously with the talking, so no need to worry about any pauses or breaks in conversation.

Oh, and the earpieces can be used as regular music-listening headphones as well.

DEVICE PROJECTS A KEYBOARD ONTO ANY SURFACE THAT YOU CAN TYPE ON. A working keypad projected by laser? Yes. Turn any flat surface into a keyboard using the Virtual Keyboard.

Pair this device with your phone, laptop or tablet using Bluetooth and type away as normal. With the choice of green or red lighting, the projection is relatively the same size as a standard keyboard but without the bulky hassle.

The device offers up to two hours of battery life and is rechargeable. And at a fraction of the size of a smartphone, could free up space in your bag. And the best part is, no more dropping crumbs into the crevices between the letters!

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WEIRD SCIENCE >> INVENTIONS & DISCOVERIES

SEND SMELLS OVER YOUR SMARTPHONE Thanks to an innovative phone app developed by David Edwards during his time as head of Artscience Labs at Harvard, “oSnap” users can take photos of objects and then tag each of those images with corresponding “aroma notes,” according to ibtimes.co.uk. The scents include butter, balsamic vinegar, cocoa bean and fermented yogurt, among others. Once you’ve made your smell, you send an oNote by text, email, Facebook and Twitter to another user.

Edwards, while working with Harvard engineering graduate Rachel Field, created the app to house 32 different scents, which equates to over 300,000 unique notes with all of the possible combinations. Fragrances can then be sent via text, email or even on some social media platforms, although unlocking the aroma is a bit more complicated.

In order to reproduce the delivered scent, the recipient’s phone needs to be connected the oPhone Duo, which is a smelling station hotspot contraption that generates the smell using “oChips” (think “fragrance cartridges”).

Talk about an all-new way to give someone your “two scents” (or more).

COLOR BLINDNESS ELIMINATING GLASSES The grass is always greener, especially from the other side of these lenses.

These aren’t your everyday pair of shades. Developed by the company EnChroma, these spectacles were created to specifically target those suffering from red-green color blindness. Though not quite as black-and-white as the term implies, color blindness is instead a deficiency that renders those affected unable to distinguish some colors from others, according to the company’s website. The lenses help to eliminate the issue by using “multinotch” filtering, a process that boosts the visibility of specific colors by cutting out sharp wavelengths of light.

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WEIRD SCIENCE >> INVENTIONS & DISCOVERIES

BOMB-DETECTING PLANTS Spinach – good for your health and for your safety.

Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology made salad a savior that would make Popeye proud. The engineers transformed spinach plants into sensors that can detect explosives and wirelessly relay that information to a handheld device similar to a smartphone.

Spinach leaves were embedded with carbon nanotubes, using a process called vascular infusion. Researchers applied a specific mixture of nanoparticles to the bottom side of a leaf, and inserted sensors into the mesophyll layer (the part of the leaf where the most photosynthesis occurs), according to the

MIT website. When nitroaromatics (the chemical compound commonly found in landmines and other explosives) were used to taint the groundwater, the plants produced a fluorescent signal detectable with an infrared camera. The camera can be coupled with a small computer that can then send an alert via email.

The spinach plant was no random pick though, as researchers chose it specifically to show the versatility of this discovery and the potential that can stem from plant-human communication research. And perhaps it’s no surprise that plants can be wonderful watchdogs for the environment — after all, they’re directly connected to it!

BULLETPROOF GEL Invented by Richard Palmer of a small U.K.-based technology company, the gel (D3O) solidifies the moment it’s hit at high impact, according to telegraph.co.uk.

Molecules of this material are meant to “lock together,” and by doing so, the gel can absorb the shock from the bullet’s collision while in its temporary solid state. When the intense pressure dissipates, D3O normalizes and transforms back into its resilient gel form.

This product could be used to minimize the amount of rigid, restraining material on some military gear worn by British soldiers, according to telegraph.co.uk.

As it turns out, fact is sometimes stranger than fiction, and all of these inventions are true.

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COLU CO COLUMN LUMN MN

CHRISTINA MILLER’S

Education Matters STEAM

CHRISTINA MILLER HAS BEEN THE PRESIDENT OF A PRIVATE SCHOOL IN GAINESVILLE FOR 39 YEARS. SHE HAS A BA IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION AND A MA IN CURRICULUM DESIGN AND ALSO HOLDS CERTIFICATION IN MONTESSORI EDUCATION FROM AGE TWO TO MIDDLE SCHOOL. CHRISTINA LOVES TO TRAVEL ESPECIALLY TO EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCES. BOATING IS HER FAVORITE PASTIME. SHE HAS ONE DAUGHTER AND ONE GRANDDAUGHTER. tinamms@millhopper.com.

TODAY’S CHILDREN WILL INHERIT THE 21ST CENTURY, WHICH WILL REQUIRE NECESSARY SKILLS.

T

he skills learned from the core subjects, such as language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies will continue to be emphasized with a stronger focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). More evidence is building that these subjects are best developed with a component of a strong education in the arts (STEAM). Abilities that also are singled out include problem solving and critical thinking. Brain research supports that art education strengthens the skills needed to be successful in school and ready for the 21st century working world.

Howard Gardner’s list of eight intelligences is inherent to all humans. These are: spatial, bodily and kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, linguistic, musical, social interpersonal, self-awareness intrapersonal, and naturalistic. A well-rounded education should include opportunities to develop all eight intelligences to prepare students for life.

The core subjects dovetail and overlap with the humanities and the great works of mankind and are best delivered and understood in integrated themes. Art is the greatest collaborator within theme-based learning, which affords students the opportunity to develop creativity, leadership and cooperative decision-making. Also acquired are communication and higher level thinking skills such as deductive reasoning and creative brainstorming abilities.

When people initially think of art, they usually conjure up thoughts of paintings and sculptures. Given a little more time, music comes to mind as well as literature, poetry, dance and other performing arts. In theme-based learning, components of all these strands unite, not only for the artist-creator-performer but as well for those responding to works of art, becoming inspired and building their own creativity vicariously.

Creativity is not only problem solving but the expression of one’s impressions. Two things are needed. First children need many impressions, experiences and examples of art in which to internalize. Second, they need experiences in all the art forms.

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VISUAL ARTS Students benefit by being involved in the creative process of art in ways that teach them to develop their creative skills and imagination. Eye-hand coordination along with focus, attention to detail and deep concentration are developed through this medium. Ongoing involvement and participation in the visual arts develops self-confidence, self-discipline and flexibility.

MUSIC According to Thomas Carlyle, “Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite.”

In Howard Gardner’s “Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences,” having musical intelligence is an ability one has to perform, compose and appreciate musical pattern. A musical talent will often appear in childhood. The educational impact of musical training goes beyond developing musical intelligence. Musical training actually changes the brain. According to Daniel Levitin, director of the music perception, cognition, and expertise laboratory at McGill University in Montreal, learning to play an instrument is an “ensemble activity.” This activity involves thinking ahead, paying attention, remembering, coordinating movement, and being able to interpret feedback that is constantly coming to the ears and fingers. This enhances what is called executive function. Executive function is responsible for thinking abstractly and the ability to ignore one thing and pay attention to something else. Music is a whole brain activity that has been shown to change the nervous system in profound ways.

DANCE AND MOVEMENT Dance and creative movement are natural with children. Even babies gyrate and sway their bodies especially along with music.

Movement education, according to the Center for Movement Education and Research (CMER), improves educational, social and cultural domains. Movement and dance promote body-mind awareness and also activate many centers in the brain. Spatial and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences are developed through movement and dance as well as with the visual arts.

Often I am amazed how today’s children are unable to gallop, hop and use their bodies in ways that children did with ease when I was a child. More than ever we need to teach movement education in schools as well as families promoting activities with their own children. Ballet, tap, karate and gymnastics classes are abundant in Gainesville.

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Movement and dance promote body-mind awareness and also activate many centers in the brain.

PERFORMING ARTS A child is in the process of creating himself. He is trying on life. With drama, the self is used as the creative medium. One’s self-activity and self-expression are all that is needed to communicate and create with others. No tools are necessary.

Drama is spontaneous in children’s play when they rehearse at being a parent or imagine stretching abilities like a superhero.

Drama provides the fertile ground for developing many of Gardner’s eight intelligences, especially the intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, memory and concentration.

A program with performing arts should have a theater production component.

Opportunities for creating sets, singing, dancing, acting, speaking and learning about the technology of lighting and sound abound.

Art is a fundamental need of humans.

Along with food, shelter, health, clothing, defense, communication and transportation, art is also evident in every culture and civilization spanning the globe and throughout time.

Art education, with all the strands, are necessary skills in and of itself but also enhances all the core subjects. Today the STEM subjects are garnering a lot of attention to succeed in the 21st century, but recent brain research has shown these skills are best developed with a combination of education in the arts (STEAM).

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SUNSTATE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION’S

Community Connection SunState has been serving our community for over 60 years and since our beginning, we’ve always found ways to support some of our area’s most amazing charitable organizations. Each issue we’ll feature an area charity that’s been involved in our Charity of the Month program.

Check out our Facebook page for more information and get involved!

Pets & Patriots Foundation The Alachua County area has the reputation of being an amazing, caring community, as many area residents donate countless hours and resources to support many worthwhile causes. The Pets and Patriots Foundation is just one of these great local non-profit organizations that can benefit from this generosity. The Pets and Patriots Foundation, started by its Executive Director Michelle Dunlap, pairs local veterans with specially trained PTSD service dogs. While the initial impact of the foundation is local, once the foundation really starts to grow, there is potential for Pets and Patriots to help veterans nationwide and beyond.

“I started this organization because my own service dog, Amber, helped me heal from the effects of a devastating brain injury when I was in my twenties,” said Dunlap. “I lost my identity as a teacher when it happened. I hope that training service dogs to help veterans with PTSD pays forward what my service dog has done for me. These guys are incredibly resilient, strong, accepting, and inspirational. It’s an honor to work with them.”

By pairing carefully screened rescue dogs that receive specialized service-dog training with a veteran battling PTSD, Pets and Patriots saves two lives—a rescued dog and a veteran who has served our country. Some of the veterans they help have requested specialized training for a dog they already own. Some of these dogs have been purchased or given to the veteran by a friend or family member in hopes of helping the veteran. In many cases these 60 |

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NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE CHARITY AND GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO WIN $1000 FROM SUNSTATE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION! Visit the SSFCU Facebook page for more information.

dogs are well-suited to training as a service dog because they have already formed a strong bond with their veteran, and have already started helping their veteran cope with PTSD while at home. The foundation’s aim is to further their training so that these dogs can work as service dogs outside their veteran’s home.

Another plus to the Pets and Patriots model is that the veterans aren’t just handed a trained dog; the dog and its veteran are trained together. This helps the two bond while increasing the number of veterans who understand the training process. There is potential for the veterans that have been trained with their dogs through the foundation to go out and help other veterans train their own dogs. Over time, and without a huge financial investment, what the foundation

“Thank you, SunState Federal Credit Union, for the generous gift that provides more opportunities for veterans to receive service dogs! Thank you to our community for its incredible support! We are all very grateful!” is starting here in Alachua County really could grow into a national grass roots movement—impacting the lives of thousands of our veterans in need of help.

“My service dog, Shadow, is the biggest blessing in my life,” said Joel Renfro, a retired Army veteran and partnering veteran to service dog Shadow. “He gets me out of my head and grounds me in reality so I can focus on what’s in front of me. Because of him I am rebuilding my life and look forward to my future.

It’s a great thing that Michelle and this organization is doing for guys like me.”

The Pets and Patriots Foundation is funded entirely upon donations and local support is greatly needed to keep this program growing to help more and more veterans overcome the debilitating effects of PTSD. For more information on the program and how to help, visit www. petsandpatriotsfoundation.org.

Proudly serving our community and our members since 1957.

352-381-5200 www.sunstatefcu.org

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DIY PROJECT >> ELECTRONICS CHARGING STATION

TECH CR AFT

Hiding Places DIY Charging Station Keeps All of Your Cords Tidy S TORY A N D PHOTOG R A PHY BY ERICK A WINTER ROW D

B

etween iPhones and iPads, iPods and Apple watches — technology seems to always be at our fingertips (or on our wrists!). It’s not uncommon for one person to have three or four different devices, and all of them require charging.

What if you’re a family of four? Imagine each person having three devices.

Are there even enough outlets in a house for all of these chargers? If your life has been getting tangled up in all of your cords, you’re not alone. There are others like you! And this DIY craft is the perfect solution to a common tech problem. Goodbye multiple cords and hello cute home décor! Follow these simple steps and you’ll find that this DIY charging station is the new “hot spot” for your all of your techie needs.

CHARGING STATION MATERIALS:

Shoebox Fabric/Wrapping Paper Fabric Glue/Adhesive 4 Grommets Box Cutter Scissors Power strip Clothespins Hammer 62 |

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STEP ONE: Cut out your fabric to meet the needs of you shoebox size. *You can also use wrapping paper instead of fabric for this step. If so, the adhesive used in step three does not need to be specifically for fabric.

STEP TWO: Lay your fabric (pretty side faced down) on a hard surface and place your shoebox (without the lid) on the fabric. Make sure the fabric will fold over and cover all sides of your box before gluing.

STEP THREE: Now it’s time to start gluing the fabric to the shoebox. Spray the bottom of the box and place it in the center of the fabric.

Now spray the long sides of the box, as well as the fabric that will be folded along those sides. Take the fabric and begin to fold tightly around the sides of the box. This process is a lot like wrapping a present.

STEP FOUR: Repeat this gluing process with the shorter sides of the shoebox. Fold the ends

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into a triangular shape, and glue them the same way you glued the longer sides. If you have excess fabric, it is OK to trim away with scissors in order to make the fold smoother.

STEP FIVE: Use a couple clothespins on both ends to hold the triangle folds in place as they dry overnight.

STEP SIX: Repeat all previous steps when gluing fabric to the lid of the shoebox.

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STEP SEVEN: Choose one of the long sides of the shoebox to mark out four holes.

Use a ruler to evenly space out the markings. These holes are where you will push the grommets through, and ultimately where your cords will feed out.

the blade of scissors to help make the hole bigger.

STEP EIGHT: Once you have marked where your holes will be, take a box cutter to make an initial cut through the fabric and the shoebox. If necessary, use

STEP TEN: Cut a slit near the triangle fold of fabric on one of the short ends of the shoebox. This is where your main power strip plug will feed through.

STEP NINE: Push grommets through the holes and attach the backside of the grommet on the inside of the shoebox. Use a hammer to help secure this step.

STEP ELEVEN: You can use hot glue to cover the hole once the main power strip plug is loaded into the shoebox.

STEP TWELVE: Start plugging in. Fish your charger cords through the grommets and away you go!

Now those pesky “Cords of Chaos� are nicely tucked away in a stylish box. Pretty nifty, right?

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BAND B BA ND REVIEW

BRIAN “KRASH” KRUGER’S

Gate Crashing ON DECK FOR REVIEW: JOHN AND LISA JOHNSON

BRIAN KRUGER IS A WRITER, MUSICIAN AND A GRADUATE OF THE UF COLLEGE OF LAW. HE HAS PLAYED IN SOME 17 OR SO LOCAL BANDS, PLAYING MOST EVERY GAINESVILLE VENUE FRIENDLY TO ORIGINAL MUSIC (AND SOME NOT SO FRIENDLY). bkrashpad@yahoo.com

DATE: FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017 VENUE: VINE BREAD AND PASTA

G

reetings, live music aficionados! This installment finds us just north of downtown Gainesville, at Vine Bread and Pasta, located at 627 North Main Street. A logo on their Facebook page also refers to the spot as “Vine Sourdough Bakery,” but in either case the name frequently gets shortened to simply “The Vine,” particularly when it is being referred to as a musical venue. Although I have played gigs and seen shows there before, apparently this is the first time that such has been the subject of one of these columns.

As the longer versions of the Vine’s name reflect, the business is in fact a bakery, where breads and pasta are made. According to Wikipedia, “Sourdough is a dough containing a Lactobacillus culture in symbiotic combination with yeasts. It is one of the principal means of biological leavening in bread baking, the others using cultivated forms of yeast.”

Apparently one keeps a portion of this culture for years, as it is a growing thing, and is used in the baking process. The Vine’s Facebook page features a 2016 video with people singing happy birthday (its fifth) to the bakery’s sourdough culture, which is now six years old. So they’re not neophytes.

In addition to breads and pastas, the Vine has a selection of soft drinks, beer and wine. Also, at least during happy hour shows (the bakery’s usual hours are 8 a.m.—6 p.m.) pizza is available. During those shows they also often offer a plate of cheese if you order a bottle of wine. All the food looks and smells delicious, and I can personally vouch for the pizza.

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There is a small seating area inside for “consumption on premises” as regulatory/licensing people might put it, as well as a couple tables outside. The indoor happy hour shows generally start around 5 p.m., and given the small space tend to be acoustic-oriented acts playing at relatively low volume, to a few dozen people, maximum.

The featured act this evening was the husband and wife duo of John and Lisa Johnson. They frequently appear around

John and Lisa Johnson

town at similar venues (such as Maude’s and at the Haile Village Farmers Market), advertised as doing “cover” songs, “From Hawaiian to Swing.” However, tonight was a special performance, featuring a number of John’s originals, as well as old folk songs from the British Isles. As to the latter, however, there was a little overlap with the Johnsons’ other iteration, the Celtic music band O’Reilly & Company, which currently ranges from a duo to a quintet (disclosure: sometimes I’m one of the quintet version of that other band).

We arrived a short way into the first set.

John sang and played (acoustic guitar) this set, without Lisa. We heard a song about one “Mad Donnelly,” followed by an a cappella song about faeries dancing in a ring.

Unaccompanied solo singing can be challenging, but John (being the lead vocalist in O’Reilly & Co.) has a strong Irish tenor and it is not a problem for him. He continued the set with a guitar-accompanied original about fallen soldiers and marines in Vietnam, in the minor key “Road to Valhalla,” and continued the martial theme with an a cappella song about “Alba,” the ancient name for Scotland, which the Romans never conquered. He closed with a song about the fall of the crusader city of Acre.

Unaccompanied solo singing can be challenging, but John (being the lead vocalist in O’Reilly & Co.) has a strong Irish tenor and it is not a problem for him.

Lisa, on pedal steel guitar, joined John for the second set, and the mood considerably lightened, beginning with one of John’s originals about the construction of the Oaks Mall, which resulted in the hills on the property being flattened and the selfsame oaks being cut down, followed by a song about hurricane season and how wind and water may reclaim their own.

Lisa then sang a song about April snow when she had been in Germany and was missing the warmth of Gainesville. That was followed by John’s humorous “Irradiated Screw Fly Blues,” about the construction of an irradiation plant in Gainesville, which warned against getting an unintentional “nuclear vasectomy.” Lisa followed, singing her song “Going to Watch the Sunrise” (that she sometimes performs with the Bill Perry Orchestra), which paints an idyllic childhood scene of Florida beachgoing.

Good food, cold beer and wine, good music, what more could you want?

Now, go see some bands.

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SCIENCE >> BREWING BEER

SCIENTIFIC HAPPINESS

Ninety-Nine

Bottles The Science of Crafting Beer W R I T T E N B Y H AY L I Z U C C O L A

O

n a hot summer day, nothing quenches thirst like an ice-cold beer. This amber beverage garnished with a frothy crown comes in hundreds of varieties that line liquor store shelves, but where does it actually come from? Most people know that coffee is created by pouring hot water over ground coffee beans, and tea is made from extracting flavors and aromas from various fruits, flowers and herbs. But what is the science behind turning grains, hops and yeast into one of America’s most popular alcoholic beverages?

Jackie Rothberg knows. She has been brewing her own beer for five years and started the hobby to create a drink that appealed to her taste rather than sampling the brew her boyfriend, Mike, concocted.

Playing with different flavors and styles of beer, such as infusing fruit into the salty German gose

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beer, won her the title of Queen of Beers in the California-based competition. By possessing such a royal title — in addition to having two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s and a doctorate in the nursing field — Rothberg is an encyclopedia on the science behind brewing beer, which incorporates chemistry, physics, biology, and even some engineering.

Like most beverages, making beer begins with water — and a lot of it. The amount and temperature varies depending on the style of beer and grains chosen, but the beginning temperature is never hotter than 180 degrees. Once the proper water temperature is reached (in what’s called a mash tun), the chosen grains — barley, wheat, corn or rye — are added for mashing. Mashing is when the water temperature begins to drop to around 140 to 150 degrees and starts to pull certain sugars from the grains, which is similar to steeping tea. Rothberg said bigger, bolder beers require more sugars, therefore

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There are dozens of different grains that can be used in beer making, from barley, corn and rye to chocolate, caramel and biscuit malts.

Gainesville brewers can get most of their supplies at Hoggetowne Ale Works, which is a local home brew store.

Instead of adding the grains directly into a mash tun, some brewers use cheesecloth or other netting to infuse the grains into the water.

Hops are one of the biggest components in beer. While a lot of brewers use hops in a pellet form, traditional hops are actually a flower from the Humulus lupulus plant.

the temperature may be 10 to 20 degrees higher than for a lighter beer. Once the grains are added, the mixture will sit for 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the recipe.

“Ideally, you want to mash at the same continuous temperature that whole period so you don’t alter which types of sugars you’re getting out of your

to get out any additional sugars without getting some flavors that you don’t want, like tannins,” she said.

Tannins offer an acidic flavor that can be found in wine, but ideally not in beer. More water is added during the sparging process than expected because brewers have to account for any boil off, which is water that’s lost to ambient air.

“If it’s a bigger or stronger beer... you may boil longer because you have more of the sugars that you want to break up.” beer,” Rothberg said.

During mashing, another container of water is heated at a slightly higher temperature for what’s called sparging, which is a process that takes place after mashing is complete. The water in the mash tun is drained into another container and fresh, hot water is poured over the grains again in order to collect any sugars that weren’t captured the first time.

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Once this liquid concoction begins to boil, hops, which are flowers from the Humulus lupulus plant, are added. For Rothberg’s spin on a Saison beer infused with pink peppercorns and lemon drop hops, there is a 60-minute hop addition, which means once the water starts boiling the hops are added for 60 minutes. This is called the initial addition. Hops for this recipe are added again during what’s called flame out, which happens after the 60 minutes have

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This year’s Hogtown Craft Beer Festival featured samples from over 113 breweries. During the event, instead of making beer onsite, which would take far too long, kegs are brought in and beer is pumped out and poured into a sampling glass.

According to craftbeer.com the foam or head on top of a beer is formed from what’s called nucleation and a bubbly beer can have an affect on its flavor.

As brewers experiment more with beer flavors, they can incorporate things like pink peppercorns or cinnamon and even fruit purees or fresh fruit.

This copper immersion chiller is used to cool down the wort before adding yeast. One end is hooked to a faucet or hose and the other drains the filtered water onto the ground or into a sink.

elapsed and the heat is turned off. “[The] initial addition is going to give you the bittering part of the hops,” she said. “[The] flame out addition gives aroma and maybe a little bit of flavor.”

This solution is now referred to as wort, which Rothberg said is like a syrup with hops in it. The wort then boils for 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the style of beer.

“If it’s a bigger or stronger beer ... you may boil longer because you have more of the sugars that you want to break up,” she said.

“The boiling process also helps to eradicate any bacteria that may be in the wort at that point.”

After the wort is finished boiling, it has to cool. To do this quickly, brewers use what’s called an immersion chiller. For a copper immersion chiller like the one Rothberg uses, a copper tube is wrapped in a large coil shape with two ends. One end is hooked to a hose or a faucet and the other end is left open to drain out the hot water. The chiller is immersed into the hot wort, the cold water is turned on, filters around the copper coils and spills out the other end. This water doesn’t go into the wort 72 |

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but drains outside the container either on the ground or in a sink. The temperature needs to be cooled down to around 70 to 80 degrees because if yeast is added to the boiling solution, it will die.

Before adding the yeast to the wort, the specific gravity of the wort has to be measured by a hydrometer. According to beeradvocate.com, specific gravity is “a measure of the density of a liquid or solid compared to that of water.” The gravity is calculated again at the end of fermentation and is compared with the specific gravity to determine how much alcohol is in the beer, or the percentage of proof.

After the gravity is measured, yeast is added to the wort.

Yeast is a living organism that feeds on sugars and then produces carbon dioxide (CO2 ). Once the yeast runs out of sugars to eat during fermentation, it dies off. Fermentation is the process of converting “sugars into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide through the action of yeast,” according to beeradvocate.com.

This yeast-infused liquid ferments for a week or more, eventually creating beer.

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While Rothberg makes a lot of beer with her boyfriend, who she credits for creating a lot of the brewing devices for their equipment, the two are also members of the Hogtown Brewers Association, which started in 1985 and now has 190 home-brewing members. The association hosts the annual Hogtown Craft Beer Festival, which raised over $33,000 for charity this year, and they give away samples of their member-created beer during the Haile Village Oktoberfest.

So whether you’re interested in taking up a new hobby or if you just want to create unique beer flavors that you can’t find anywhere else, keep in mind that this chemical creation can be made in your own kitchen, not just in a top-name brewery or factory.

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ENTERTAINMENT >> ESCAPE ROOMS

ESC KEY

A BRIEF HISTORY AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Escape Rooms W R ITTEN BY CA MERON COBB

Escape rooms: where people line up to get inside a room so they can be challenged to get out.

And although the continuous growth of escape rooms doesn’t put their popularity into question, curiosity begins before the game even starts: where and when did escape rooms originate?

HISTORY: Although the first documented escape room didn’t open up until just 10 years ago, the concept has been around for decades.

In the 1980s and ‘90s, television shows about similar adventures and mazes aired in the U.K. with some of the on-screen challenges closely resembling modern-day games.

Heading in a more interactive direction, the 1990s saw the beginning of some of the first 3-D escape puzzle video games. In the early 2000s, “escape the room” pixel games were officially 74 |

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given a name and style (with some still existing online to this day).

In 2007, a company called SCRAP (also known as “Real Escape Game”) opened the first-ever escape room in Kyoto, Japan. And although Asia will forever be home to the original, it didn’t take long for others to follow. In 2012, the United States welcomed the activity with open arms and open, eager minds.

SCRAP set sail for California, with the game’s first location in the U.S. being San Francisco.

With their presence not just limited to larger cities, more places across the globe will likely provide a place for escape rooms. There are even a couple of escape rooms in Gainesville, along with many others in neighboring cities.

Escape Key features rooms designed with different themes SOURCE: ROOMESCAPEARTIST.COM

that contain various types of puzzles, riddles and more, according to the company’s website. The goal is to work together with your group to solve challenges, complete tasks and “escape” the room. Players can request clues to help nudge team members in the right direction, so communication between players is especially key.

Connor Courtney said he started working at Escape Key about a year ago, and his job is to act as the game host, providing clues, monitoring the room and getting players in the mindset by introducing the theme and objective prior to starting. Courtney said he sees a lot of diversity in groups that come in – families, friends, or even a team of coworkers — and everyone in between. The success rate of the current room is about 40-50 percent.

Courtney recommends trying escape rooms, and describes it as a fun hour spent testing your skills while attempting an assortment of logic-based puzzles. His best advice is to not get too hung up on one specific train of thought, and don’t be afraid to ask for hints because sometimes it can be a bit tricky if people get stuck. Escape Key and other escape room experiences are designed for players to have an amazing time in a way that encourages communication and critical thinking. It is family-friendly as well, and doesn’t require any certain kind of outside knowledge.

FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE: This experience has been at the top of my To-Do list since initially hearing about the concept, so I was thrilled to force my dad to participate with me (payback for all the stuff we were dragged to as children, only he got the better end of the deal since he actually enjoyed this activity).

After we heard Connor Courtney give us the theme and objective, it was time to head into the room and begin. We spent the first 30 seconds scoping out the room, two minutes shouting incomprehensibly over each other, and at least a combined seven minutes overall with my dad insistently pointing out the room’s couch because “we have the same one at home and that’s just crazy.” We finally decided it was time to get to work.

I like to consider myself to be a riddle aficionado, or at least that was the case prior

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to this experience. Even with my extensive research of every brainteaser, riddle and mind puzzle that I can get my hands on, this room introduced tricks that made us think in ways we would’ve never considered, which both my dad and I found refreshing.

It was exciting to be challenged in all-new ways, and although there were times we were stumped, I never felt as if anything was impossible to the point where it wasn’t enjoyable. And the great part is, the variance of the room’s puzzles means that every member of the group will have something to offer, providing the chance for all to shine in the spotlight of triumph (although I’m sure my dad will swear he was the backbone of our successes).

The most exciting aspect was being a part of a situation with my dad that neither of us had ever experienced. It was an interesting way to work together and very rewarding, with every forward move made in the game, and even though we may not have technically “escaped,” we still had a blast (though for two people, we did get pretty close … or at least that’s what I’m sticking with. I blame the couch).

The moment that door shuts and you notice the clock hit 59:59, the adrenaline instantly starts coursing through you. The feelings of perplexity and anxiety are just the right amount to pull you into the experience without halting progress and for that hour, you become completely absorbed in the challenges at hand. So prepare yourself for a fast-paced, chaotic, and thrilling 60 minutes of your life!

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The moment that door shuts and you notice the clock hit 59:59, the adrenaline instantly starts coursing through you.

TIPS & ADVICE: ABSOLUTELY take advantage of any hints you’re allotted. There’s no shame in using what’s offered, and some of the solutions would’ve been nearly impossible had we not asked for help.

Bring as many people as you can! Two (or even 10!) heads are better than one ( just be sure to call ahead if your party exceeds the limitations of the company, as they may be able to make an exception). And COMMUNICATE with your team.

Don’t stay stuck on one conundrum for too long. A lot of times, it helped for us to step back, work on a different challenge to clear our heads, and then try to tackle the problem with a fresh outlook. The hands of the clock move quickly and you’ll need every one of those seconds.

Check EVERYWHERE. You may feel you’ve hit the peak of frustration multiple times, but nothing gets you to that peak more quickly than realizing there’s been a drawer full of additional pieces to a puzzle you’ve spent a quarter of your time fruitlessly trying to figure out.

Have fun. Try and get as far as you can, but remember: it’s a game, so be sure to treat and enjoy it as such! Just getting past any of the puzzles individually is rewarding, and if you’re unable to solve them all the first time, then that’s just an excuse to go back!

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COMMUNITY >> TECH TOYBOX

START ME UP

Toy Box for the Tinkerer A Nonprofit Offers Tools and Technology to Launch Startups S TORY A N D PHOTOG R A PHY BY MONIC A H UMPH RIE S

M

ark Davidson will do at least 15 different things today.

Davidson, the CEO and founder of The Tech Toybox, is in the office every morning at 9 a.m. He might start his morning by greeting his interns. Then he’ll work at his electronics bench where he’ll troubleshoot a circuit for a startup. After that, he’ll head downtown to work in his new office space. He might weld, drill holes or research manufacturing.

All in a day.

“It’s a bit hectic, but it suits the way my brain works,” he said with a laugh.

The Tech Toybox is a nonprofit that supplies a variety of tools and technologies for inventors

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and startups in the community. The process works in a couple ways. Someone can bring in an idea, and Davidson and his team will come up with a timeline and price to create the prototype, or an individual can purchase a monthly membership and build the prototype.

“We treat it like a garage startup,” he said, “where we provide the garage, and all the tools you need inside the garage.”

The Tech Toybox provides electronics, 3-D printing, plastic casting and molding, a machine shop, woodworking, welding, screen printing, thin-film equipment and analytical chemistry tools to anyone looking to create. Davidson said it typically takes three months to build a prototype, depending on the idea.

Davidson said Gainesville is the perfect home

Mark Davidson said he grew up building and creating things.

When he was 8 years old, his uncle gave him a chemistry set, which led him to pursue chemical engineering at the University of Florida.

Two interns (seen below) discuss computer software in one of the workspaces. The Tech Toybox will have over 20 interns this summer working on various projects.

This device (pictured bottom right) is part of the satellite testing process Davidson and his team are currently working on. It’s part of one of Davidson’s previous startups before coming to The Tech Toybox. The device works by shooting oxygen atoms at satellite materials and looking at the corrosion that occurs.

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The Tech Toybox is a one-stop shop, and welding is one of the many tools members at The Tech Toybox will take advantage of.

The non-profit has everything, including electronics, a machine shop, plastics molding, woodworking, welding, screen printing, thin-film equipment and analytical chemistry tools.

The Tech Toybox is expanding into the old Discount Hi Fi, which will have more space for all its equipment.

for a space like The Tech Toybox. With two colleges and a community full of motivated people, there are a ton of ideas being generated. The Tech Toybox works with a lot of those people, Davidson said.

“It is unique because it’s probably one of the most collaborative and diverse communities that I’ve been in,” he said.

“Collaborative is the key.”

The idea for The Tech Toybox came after Davidson saw innovators with good ideas fail again and again.

He described a common practice where people will have a great idea but immediately send the prototype plans across the country. When the finished product comes back, the designers realize part of it is wrong, for example the product may need another leg or an extra hole. In order to add that missing piece, the plans need to be redesigned and sent back across the country.

At The Tech Toybox, the designer has the opportunity to just go over and fix what is wrong. He can just add an extra leg or drill an extra hole.

“Before you do anything, you have to make the ugly prototype first,” he said.

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in, providing the creator with the tools he or she needs.

“Our fundamental motto is that we don’t want any idea to go untested because of a tool,” he said.

The Tech Toybox is serving other aspects of the community, too, Davidson said.

Each semester, The Tech Toybox brings on interns to learn and work on different startups. This summer, Davidson and his team will be working with 20 interns on a wide range of projects.

“What we’re really trying to do is instill confidence,” Davidson said.

Interns are mainly college and high school students, but anyone with curiosity is welcome.

“Recently we had a 94-year-old retired machinist from the North come in,” Davidson said. “He probably taught us more than we taught him.”

The Tech Toybox works with groups such as Reichert House, BOLD (The Brave Overt Leaders of Distinction), and different veterans’ organizations to help promote education.

“K through fourth is when that curiosity is instilled,” he said.

But Davidson makes sure to point out that curiosity needs to follow through in high school, and all of life.

A great example is how the Cade Museum for Creativity and

interest for chemistry. After his uncle gave him a chemistry set, he never looked back. Davidson later went to the University of Florida where he earned a Ph. D. in chemical engineering.

Since then, Davidson has constantly been involved in startups and is the founder of two startups. But as his ideas and the ideas within the community continue to grow and expand, there was a larger demand from The Tech Toybox, so Davidson decided to expand.

The Tech Toybox, which is about 5 years old, is partnered with Santa Fe College and currently located at 2153 SE Hawthorne Road, however it’s moving into a second location at the old Discount Hi Fi on Main Street. The new location will have more space. Beyond that, The Tech Toybox is partnering with Make.Work to help expand the manufacturing side of startups.

Davidson said another challenge when it comes to startups is finding someone regional to help manufacture versus sending the product to China.

“We get these companies ready to go but then they have trouble with the next step of manufacturing,” he said. Local manufacturers are nearly impossible to find.

Together, Make.Work and The Tech Toybox are hoping to create a one-stop shop to create, build and manufacture products from the ground up.

“I have somehow created the perfect job for myself,” he said.

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COMMUNITY >> TECH TOYBOX

Invention will work with younger students to spark interest, but when the motivation declines or the students get too old, the museum might send students to The Tech Toybox where they can take on bigger projects.

And The Tech Toybox has quite a few big projects to work on.

For example, the nonprofit is currently working on a twoyear project with the European Union to make a wind tunnel that will test satellites.

His team has also helped create everything from medical devices to industrial tools to cleaning brushes.

Although creating and learning are two of Davidson’s favorite things, he also loves working with the students and children. He described the spark that lights up in children’s eyes when they find something they love.

“You always get the one kid who isn’t interested,” he said, “but then you show them how to weld or drill and they get sucked in.”

Creating those experiences is one of the best parts of Davidson’s job. And it likely reminds him a little of his childhood.

Davidson said he’s always been a “tinkerer.”

Growing up, his dad was an electrical engineer who worked on the guidance system for space shuttles. Davidson said he remembers coloring little cockpits and playing with handfuls of parts his dad would bring home.

“I was fortunate to be exposed to so many different things,” he said.

But it wasn’t until he was 8 years old that he realized his

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COLUMN

KENDRA SILER-MARSIGLIO’S

Healthy Edge A HEALTHY ANSWER TO “MOMMMM (OR DADDDD), I’M BORED” KENDRA SILER-MARSIGLIO, PH.D, HCC IS A NEUROSCIENTIST, MEDICAL WRITER, COLUMNIST AND PRESIDENT OF COMMUNITYHEALTH IT AT NASA/KENNEDY SPACE CENTER. SHE ENJOYS TRAVELING, DANCING LIKE NO ONE’S WATCHING, AND LISTENING TO PEOPLE’S STORIES. kendra.sm@gmail.com

HAVE KIDS WHO ARE HOME FOR THE SUMMER, AND THEY’RE BORED? GIVE THEM A HEALTHY “SOMETHING TO DO” WITH THE RESOURCES BELOW.

I

f kids are going to be truly engaged in their health, doing so better be fun and interactive!

The below CDC and PBS resources and games deliver the fun while helping kids learn about nutritional choices, their bodies and minds, and outbreaks.

immune system players and germs, it teaches kids how the immune system works and how different infections affect our bodies. Another featured game is “Dining Decisions.” It’s interactive and can be played on the web at www.cdc.gov/bam/ nutrition/game.html or downloaded to your iPad, iPhone, or Android device. Kids are to make their food plates as healthy as possible for points. The virtual food expert “Kendra” helps kids make smart food choices. Kids decide which foods give them more energy and powerful muscles and which ones are better to eat only sometimes. The ultimate goal is for our kids to play the healthy food choice game in the real world… and keep us adults on the good-for-you food wagon!

CDC Resources The below CDC resources are mostly for kids who are 9-13 years old.

PBS KIDS’ Resources • Solve the Outbreak, Be a Disease Detective. This These resources target younger kids: 2-8 years old. For game can be played on the web, iPad, iPhone, or the PBS interactive games, you need to have Adobe Android device. It can be found at: www.cdc.

At the Flash Player installed. You can download the latest gov/mobile/applications/sto/web-app.html. start of the game, version of Flash at get.adobe.com/flashplayer.

For this game, kids get clues, analyze data, kids will be a Trainee Here are five health-related PBS KIDS’ solve the case, and save lives. Kids play the games that your kids can enjoy when it’s role of an Epidemic Intelligence Service and will earn badges raining outside. agent. Kids find clues about outbreaks and by solving • Agent Check-Up. The Odd Squad doctor make tough decisions about what to do next: cases. needs your kids to help cure the Odd Squad Do they quarantine the village? Talk to people agents of their bizarre ailments. Kids collect data who are sick? Ask for more lab results? With to make a diagnosis. At the same time, they learn about fictional outbreaks based on real-life cases, your fractions, volume, and coordinates. kids will have to put the evidence together. At the start of the • Buster Baxter Lung Defender. Help Buster from Arthur game, kids will be a Trainee and will earn badges by solving capture all of the asthma triggers as he flies a micro-sized cases. Once they earn the top rank, they’ll become Disease rocketship through lungs.

Detectives. Find out early if your kid is a livesaver with “Solve • Doctor Daniel. Your kids can learn about going to the doctor the Outbreak!” with Daniel from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. Your kids • Kidtastics Radio Podcasts. Kids can check out Kidtastics gets to “be the doctor” using virtual doctor’s instruments.

Podcasts at www2c.cdc.gov/podcasts/browse.asp?exact• Vegetable Harvest. Gabriela from Sid the Science Kid is Match=1&topic=Kidtastics. These podcasts are recorded for collecting vegetables from her garden. Your kids can practice kids by kids. The podcasts are typically two to four minutes counting and simple addition as they help Gabriela. long, and podcasts are in English and Spanish. Topics covered • 3-2-1 Snack. Your kids can help Cat from Peg and Cat figure include asthma, food safety, and even why you shouldn’t kiss out the right number of snacks by selecting the quantity that frogs and lizards (ANSWER: Salmonella!). matches the requested number.

• BAM! (Body and Mind). To check out BAM!, go to www. cdc.gov/bam/index.html. A featured resource is “Immune Learn about even more games and resources at the parenting Platoon.” By creating comic-book style characters out of the website on PBS KIDS at grownups.pbskids.org.

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OPPORTUNITY >> PROGRESS PARK

GROWING IDEAS

Making Progress A Piece Of History As Well As A Look Into The Future For Alachua’s Own Progress Park W RIT TE N BY C A MERON COBB P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y A L E X I A F E R N A N D E Z

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P

rogress Park started out just like many of the companies it has housed — as a vision. Robert Marston’s vision, specifically.

Marston, who was president of the University of Florida during the early 1980s, dreamed of a place where university technology projects and startup companies could coexist and aim to benefit one another, according to progressparkfl.com. The University of Florida Foundation (UFF) dedicated 200 acres for the park from the land it owned in the City of Alachua.

Being president of the Florida Progress Corporation at the time and a UF alumni, Andrew Hines was an easy pick when UFF was choosing their development partner.

With Hines’ input and insight, the Apalachee Development Company bought the park’s property in 1984 from UFF, according to progressparkfl.com. And in 1987, progress was literally made, as Alachua issued a developmental order that allowed for an office and research facility building, with the Progress Center appropriately being first of the construction. And things only grew from there.

The National Center for Construction Education is one of a few The National Centerand for Research Construction Education companies in Progress Park not involved and Research is one of a few companies in Progress medical or technological The Parkinnot involved in medical or research. technological NCCER is affiliated thewith UF the Rinker research.

The NCCER is affiwith liated UF Rinker School School of of Construction Construction Management.

Management.

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OPPORTUNITY >> PROGRESS PARK

Sandy Burgess, who has been the property manager for over 30 years, said there’s been a phenomenal amount of innovation,

and with plenty of reasons to pave the way for more.

Burgess said the mission of Progress Park (located on Progress Boulevard in Alachua) is to foster an environment where research and technology A U T O • H O M E O W N E R S • B U S I N E S S • L I F E • H E A LT H • R E T I R E M E N T 7 pport / companies can accumulate in one place; a u 24onal S place enabling those involved to grow and rs e P Trust a local partner to help you to help one another do the same. The park protect what matters most. is home to around 35 – 40 companies, but Burgess said that number depended upon how many are in the business Incubator.

Because various budding companies may come to Progress Park at different phases of their intended project, not every one will go through the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator. But those fortunate enough to have some sort of brush with the Incubator are sure to gain an exponential amount of luck — after all, it wasn’t awarded a title of “Global Incubator of the Year” (twice) for nothing, according to sidmartinbio.org.

“The Incubator is such a powerful program with so many awesome people running it, who know just what these companies need and strive to make that happen,” Burgess www.BSITRI.com said. “In my opinion, it’s the Park’s top contribution.”

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Dr. Levette Dunbar, MD

“Growing up in Alachua, we used to be kind of the ‘braindrain’ community, meaning if you went to college, you almost just had to move away due to lack of jobs. Just because you got an education doesn’t mean you have to leave anymore.” best opportunities to do so,” Burgess said.

Besides the brilliant ideas brought by researchers, there are so many more aspects to keep in mind when it comes to starting a business, besides just sheer ambition,

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Burgess said. Aspiring companies have to take other factors into consideration, such as legal structure, marketing and other business-related influences.

“A lot of research companies aren’t ready to just run out and buy 10 acres of property for an uncertain future,” Burgess said. “It takes a very, very long time for ideas to get the funding and traction they need to turn into companies like RTI Surgical, Inc. or Nanotherapeutics, Inc.” Burgess has witnessed firsthand both failures and successes on multiple occasions.

“I remember when RTI Surgical, Inc. was originally a tenant back in 1989. They were in about 1,000 square feet of space, and with essentially only three or four employees, things were very archaic,” Burgess said.

“That was the beginning of the group today; a group that now has hundreds of employees and 200,000 square feet of room.”

The success stories are ample and continue to grow in numbers, including RTI Surgical, Inc., AxoGen, Nanotherapeutics, Inc., Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation and more, all born and blossoming, thanks to the Park.

And the plans for now? Expand the progress.

Two ways of doing so, Burgess said: Foundation Park and Copeland Park. Along with Progress Park, this trio hopes to create a sort of “technology corridor,” Burgess said, where more research and technology companies can start, build and expand on their own. Burgess said she thinks it’s great to see the town’s residents able to produce their dream invention or land their dream position.

“Growing up in Alachua, we used to be kind of the ‘brain-drain’ community, meaning if you went to college, you almost just had to move away due to lack of jobs,” Burgess said.

Combatting this dilemma, Progress Park has helped not only the businesses, but also the community by providing countless employment opportunities. Nothing gets expansion going like attracting tons of creatively intelligent individuals within Alachua and neighboring cities.

“Just because you got an education doesn’t mean you have to leave anymore,” Burgess said.

While Burgess said about 75 percent of the current companies in Progress Park are biotechnology related, she hopes to see more of a presence from supporting businesses.

With plenty of land for expansion and

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“I envision [other specialties] coming to help these businesses and being part of the park, as well,” Burgess said. “Any company that wants to tap into the feel and energy is welcomed.”

From managing the Park’s initial property that included nothing more than a folding table and telephone strung across the room, to how things are now and where they continue to go, Burgess said she has “been blessed to be a part of all of this.”

“It just goes to show that no company is too small to just discount up front — you’ve got to give them a chance,” Burgess said.

“They might not make it as big as others, or even at all, but each has something to offer, and they all are passionate about their technology, or their widget, or whatever it is that they have as a dream in their eye. I believe in that, and I believe in this.”

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BOOK REVIEW

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER’S

Reading Corner DAD AND THE DINOSAUR written by Gennifer Choldenko and Dan Santat C.2017, G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS, $17.99 / $23.99 CANADA, 40 PAGES

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YOU ARE THE BRAVEST KID YOU KNOW.

N

othing is scary to you. You sleep in the dark, you cross the street without holding anyone’s hand, you’re not even scared of monsters.

Well, OK, maybe that monster thing, but as in the new book “Dad and the Dinosaur” by Gennifer Choldenko and Dan Santat, you’re fine as long as you have your safetygood-luck charm.

Nicholas was not a very brave boy.

He really wanted to be.

More than anything, he wanted to get rid of his fears of bugs and manhole covers and nighttime and everything else. He wanted to be like his dad, who wasn’t afraid of anything.

Only a dinosaur kept Nicholas safe and unafraid.

It fit in his hand or in his pocket. He could put it under his pillow, or tie it to his swimsuit. It was a very small dinosaur but it was a great BIG help because, as everyone knows, dinosaurs are like Dads: they’re not afraid of anything, either.

Nicholas put up a brave front. Everyone thought he was a fearless kid and life might’ve gone on just like that, with nobody knowing his BIG secret.

Things would have been fine, except for one problem: Nicholas lost his dinosaur.

He’d tucked it in his sock just before he stepped onto the soccer field. He thought it was there when he fearlessly kicked the ball right past the kid they call The Gorilla, a move that

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Nicholas’ mom got on video. Dad said Nicholas was “incredible,” but Nicholas was incredibly sad. He couldn’t find his dinosaur.

He looked. And looked. He crawled almost the whole entire field on his hands and knees until it got dark but the dino was lost for good. What wasn’t gone were the same old fears — things the dinosaur kept away. How would Nicholas ever be able to sleep again? Would he ever be able to go outside in the dark?

And how could he continue to convince people that he was totally fearless?

Dads fix things.

That’s what conventional wisdom would have you think: moms nurture, dads fix. But in “Dad and the Dinosaur,” your child will see that fathers bolster hearts, too.

The fears are real inside this cute picture book, and only one thing keeps them at bay: a fierce and powerful dinosaur, lurking in the shadows of the pages in which Nicholas needs him. The illustrations by Dan Santat are clear about the creature’s protections and kids will understand that completely, but beware! The illustrations might be frightening on their own, were it not for the story itself. Author Gennifer Choldenko gives this tale the most heroic, most wonderfully understanding Conquerer of Fears, and that guy knows how to make things right. Don’t be surprised if it makes you melt, too.

While this book can surely be enjoyed by any 5-to-8-yearold, it appears to be more of a book for boys who idolize their Pops. If you have one of those in your house, then “Dad and the Dinosaur” is scary-good.

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CONSERVATION >> LARGE-SCALE SOLAR ENERGY

R AY OF LIGHT

Going Green, Saving Green Education and Government Tap Into Sun’s Energy, Reduce Costs With Solar Photovoltaics W RIT TE N BY S TE PH A NIE RICH A R DS

T

he cumulative U.S. solar market is expected to nearly triple in size in the next five years, even though a slight dip is expected this year, according to a report released in March by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Further, the report sites that Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems are becoming more affordable, dropping nearly 20 percent last year.

Solar PV cells convert light (photons) into electricity (voltage) and have been traditionally made from silicon, according to the National Renewable Energy

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The roof of the Easton Newberry Sports Complex has Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels installed on its roof.

PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF CITY OF NEWBERRY

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CONSERVATION >> LARGE-SCALE SOLAR ENERGY

Meadowbrook Elementary has a 182.700 kilowatts peak PV system on its roof.

Laboratory (NREL). Second and third generation solar cells have been developed from other materials, such as cadmium telluride, as well as from solar inks, dyes and conductive plastics. In 1996, NREL’s National Center for Photovoltaics was created to develop technology and disseminate information about photovoltaics.

According to the website, the Center’s “cutting-edge research focuses on boosting solar cell conversion efficiencies; lowering the cost of solar cells, modules, and systems; and improving the reliability of PV components and systems.”

Florida ranks third in the nation for rooftop solar potential, and 12th for the cumulative solar capacity installed, according to SEIA. In recent years, local educational and governmental entities have explored or completed solar PV projects to reduce their carbon footprint as well as save energy costs.

Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) has taken advantage of Solar PV, with 21 schools that have more than two megawatts of PV installed, according to its 2015-16 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Nominee Form. ACPS was a recipient of the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools 2015-16 District Sustainability Award, which recognizes efforts to “reduce environmental impact and utility costs, improve health and wellness, and ensure effective sustainability education.”

Through partnerships with local utility providers, three of the ACPS schools are hands-on learning centers for students and the 18 other sites are Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) programs that 94 |

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provide income from rental of roof spaces, according to the nomination form. In 2015-16, the FIT programs brought in $145,000, which was used for curriculum, recycling programs and energy incentive awards, said Jackie Johnson, ACPS Public Information Officer. In addition, funds were used for the North Florida Energy Whiz Expo (in partnership with the Gainesville Raceway), where students demonstrate knowledge on a variety of topics, including solar thermal and photovoltaics. The full output production from the systems will eventually be turned over to the district.

One way students also learn about the solar projects is online through the district’s website (www.sbac.edu). It includes specific details about each system on a daily basis and over time. The online information, solar education in classes, and the North Florida Energy Whiz Expo have been ways to “expand the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) curriculum,” according to Theresa Spurling-Wood, ACPS Director of Energy Systems.

The district’s Solar PV investment has additional impact in the community as High Springs Community School is designated as part of the SunSmart E-Shelter program, coordinated by the Florida Solar Energy Center. Through the program, more than 115, 10-kW PV systems have been installed at designated emergency shelter schools statewide, according to the Center’s website. A battery backup is able to provide power to the building in case of a storm outage, allowing it to be used as emergency shelter, Spurling-Wood said.

PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF SOLAR IMPACT, INC.

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TAKE S.R. 26 TO TRENTON, THEN 129 SOUTH TO U.S. 19 N. FLEA MARKET ON THE LEFT.

TAKE S.R.41 TO S.R. 26 TO TRENTON THEN 129 SOUTH TO U.S. 19 N. FLEA MARKET ON LEFT

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CONSERVATION >> LARGE-SCALE SOLAR ENERGY

In 2012, Newberry completed the installation of 42 Solar PV panels on the roof of its Easton Newberry Sports Complex.

The 10.29-kilowatt (kW) system has generated varying levels of electricity, from 12,601-kilowatt hours (kWh) in 2012 to 13,271 kWh last year, according to Jamie Jones, Newberry’s Utilities and Public Works. It is used to provide power to the 19,060 square foot building at the complex.

Newberry received funding from an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program for the Solar PV system and owns it. The grant totaled $128,830 and the portion for the Solar PV installation was $51,347.10, according to Wendy Kinser,

Newberry’s Principal Planner and City Grants Manager.

The city pursued the project in an effort to reduce energy costs at the facility, said Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe.

“The benefit to the city was the energy cost savings that we realized,” he said. “We are not currently looking at any other specific projects, but we are researching ones where solar might make sense.”

In neighboring Alachua, the city currently does not have Solar PV on any of its buildings. The city recently built two major facilities — an operations building and recreational complex at what will be Legacy Park (next to the Hal Brady Recreation Complex),

EXPLORING POSSIBLE UTILITY-SCALE SOLAR FMPA Survey Gauges Newberry, Other Communities’ Interest In Alternative Energy

BY STEPHANIE RICHARDS

recent survey conducted by GreatBlue Research revealed that

solar projects are also more cost effective and work better with the

65.1 percent of Newberry residents are interested in solar being

grid.” Based on the description, approximately 38 percent of both

explored as a possible renewable energy source for the community.

Newberry and overall respondents said they would likely participate

A

In partnership with the Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA)

and purchase solar energy, even if priced higher.

and municipal electric utilities throughout the state, Newberry was one of 10 communities to participate in the survey to gauge interest in a utility scale solar project. FMPA is a wholesale power agency owned by 31 municipal electric utilities, including Alachua, Gainesville and Newberry. It provides electricity to approximately two million residents and offers related services to support community-owned electric utilities, according to its website.

Overall, 71.7 percent surveyed said they were interested in solar being investigated as a potential, future energy source.

Newberry residents’ interest in solar is similar to all respondents surveyed from the 10 towns. Overall, 71.7 percent surveyed said

“We found out, not unexpectedly, that some residents want solar.

they were interested in solar being investigated as a potential, future

They realize it is better for the environment because it reduces the

energy source.

carbon footprint and they are willing to pay a little bit more for it,”

As defined in the survey, utility-scale solar is “where one or more utilities build a large solar installation and share the electricity, which they can then sell to customers who want solar energy. Larger 96 |

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said former Newberry Mayor Bill Conrad, who was also the FMPA Board Chair at the time of a phone interview.

Newberry residents were also asked specifically about subscribing

according to Adam Boukari, Alachua’s assistant city manager.

“We did not have the budget to do everything we needed, let alone solar, but the buildings are LED and energy efficient,” he said.

“We have looked into and evaluated it, but it is not the right opportunity for the city now [in terms of creating our own power, which we sell]. However, solar is becoming more affordable for municipalities and has been more competitive the last few years.”

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solar. Over half (52.7 percent) of Newberry respondents showed interest in an option where customers could choose to pay 16 cents per kilowatt (kWh) during peak hours and 9 cents per kWh for the remaining hours of the day. The average current cost for Newberry residents is 13 cents per kWh. Capacity estimates for what would be the first joint solar project have been 16 megawatts.

The next step in the discussion of the possible project was scheduled to take place at a FMPA meeting in April at press time.

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COLUMN

ALBERT ISAAC’S

Different Note MY TECHNOFOLLY

ALBERT ISAAC IS AN AWARD-WINNING WRITER AND EDITOR AND THE AUTHOR OF SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS AND PERSONAL COLUMNS. HE LIVES IN HIGH SPRINGS WITH HIS FAMILY AND A BUNCH OF CRITTERS. editor@towerpublications.com

SOME DAYS I FEEL LIKE I’M LIVING IN A SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE — MINUS THE FLYING CARS (I WAS PROMISED FLYING CARS, DANG IT!).

W

ith all of this technology and computers and robots, I’m living in a world nothing like the one in which I grew up. After all, the only kinds of technology we had back in the day were radios and bulky black and white televisions and record players. Nowadays, there are grown adults that have never played an LP and, in fact, don’t even know what one is ( just for the record, LP stands for Long Play). But LPs are making a comeback, and now they’re known as vinyl. So that’s cool.

Yes, things were much simpler when I was growing up.

We had very few technological distractions. So we had little choice but to get outside and climb trees and build forts and run around like crazy kids. I can remember getting my first transistor radio (powered by a 9-volt battery) and strapping it to the handlebars of my bicycle. I cruised the neighborhood with “Lady Madonna” blasting on that 4” speaker. High tech!

I also distinctly remember the first time I heard a stereo. What?

Two speakers? It was, pardon the pun, music to my ears. And the first time I saw a color TV I couldn’t believe how green the grass was on the football field.

Yeah, so I’m old as dirt. But I’m not one of those “back-in-myday-things-were-better” kind of guys. Nope. (Well, maybe a little).

I embrace the new technology. I was one of the first of my friends to buy a CD player (like 300 bucks!). And I was the first on my block to get a personal computer — for like three grand, and slow as molasses in January with less computing power than my cell phone. But it was still awesome.

Our kids grew up with a mouse in their hands. And back then, CDs were all the rage (MP3s were not yet a thing). When our middle child (now 25!) was just a wee lad, he saw my record collection and wanted to know all about it. So I showed him my turntable. I played an LP for him. He was intrigued. Intrigued enough that one day he decided to use it all by himself. I came home to discover a “Rubber Ducky” LP sitting on my turntable. I put on one of my records and gently set the tone arm onto the vinyl — and it skated across the 98 |

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record like Bambi on ice. Apparently my young audiophile had damaged the diamond stylus (which is a needle and not the name of a wealthy barber), bending it sideways so it would no longer sit in the record groove. No worries; I bent it back (analog technology can be more forgiving than digital) and it actually worked.

But I digress.

I still have a turntable. I even have cassette tapes. But I mostly listen to digital music. I’m delighted that I don’t have to lug dozens of CDs with me when we travel; my postage-stamp-size MP3 player holds hundreds of songs.

Clearly, I’m a bona fide technophile. And although I’m far from a scientist, I believe in science. Why wouldn’t I? Why wouldn’t anybody? Granted, if someone had told me 20 years ago that I’d have a device in my pocket that I could talk to and it would answer me; that I could use it to take pictures and make movies; that I could make live broadcasts across the globe… well, the list goes on and on… needless to say, I would have thought he was out of his mind. And yet, that’s what a smart phone can do. You can even make phone calls with it.

In addition to smart phones, there are smart TVs and smart kitchen appliances, and smart cars (but they are really tiny so count me out) and smart everything. How can technology be getting so smart while people are getting so dumb? I, for one, rely so heavily upon the technology on my phone that I don’t have to remember any phone numbers. (I say, “Call Mom.” Phone says, “Calling Mom.”) I don’t need to read a map; the phone will direct me to my destination and even predict my arrival time.

For the most part, I trust science. But being a self-proclaimed technophile doesn’t mean I trust everything. I’m not ready to get into a self-driving car. Even the thought of smart technology that automatically hits the brakes in emergency situations makes me nervous. After all, it’s a computer. I’ve used computers.

They crash. Maybe not as much as they did ‘back in the day,’ but enough that I don’t want a computer driving my car when it crashes — if you know what I mean.

But when all is said and done, I trust science. And I’m optimistic that good things are coming. If the past 20 years are any indication, the exponential growth of science will bring technologies I cannot even dream of (and I dream a lot). Even now, we have so many nearly unimaginable technological gizmos — yet, no flying cars.

Still waiting!

Second Annual benefit event for the Alachua County Humane Society

October 13, 2017

Save the Date!

Friday, October 13th, 2017 | 6 PM – 10 PM The Barn at Rembert Farms in Alachua, Florida THANK YOU TO OUR EARLY SPONSORS!

For sponsorship information and further details, please call Margot DeConna at 352-415-2460. www.alachuahumane.org | 4205 NW 6th Street | Gainesville, Florida 32609 JULY/AUGUST 2017

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We feel the best way to find and recognize local charities in our communities is by asking you!

The SunState Community Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that serves the communities in and around North Central Florida by promoting and facilitating philanthropy.

The Foundation was established to promote and provide charitable assistance that contributes towards the development, education and well-being of the communities, areas and residents of Alachua, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, and Levy Counties in Florida. The foundation’s initial goal is to administer and fully fund the award winning Facebook Charity-of-the-Month program. SunState Federal Credit Union started the program in 2013, but has turned over administration of the program to the foundation, with SunState Federal Credit Union acting only as a sponsor. This has been done in the belief that this path will ensure the program remains a strong and expanding community resource long into the future.

The SunState Community Foundation, Inc., provides donors/members opportunities to participate in the furtherance of the foundation’s goals in multiple ways. First, and foremost, the donors/members are providing funds to support the foundation’s charitable initiatives. Donors/members can also nominate groups for the Charity of the Month program, and then vote for the group of their choice. Donors/members are encouraged to participate and vote in the Charity of the Month program. Ultimately, the voters choose where foundation donations go as part of the infrastructure of the program.

SunState Community Foundation, Inc.

SPONSORSHIP L EVEL S AVAIL ABL E $

1,000 CHARITY OF THE MONTH SPONSOR

$

•

Recognized on all 4 Entercom Communication stations, 30 times (120 total); KTK, SKY, WRUF and ESPN.

•

Recognized on the Charity of the Month Facebook Contest page, KTK’s Facebook page and Our Town’s Facebook page.

•

Mentioned in the Charity of the Month page in Our Town Magazine.

•

•

•

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500 RANDOM CHARITY SPONSOR Recognized on 2 of Entercom Communications stations, 30 times (60 total); WRUF and ESPN Recognized on the Charity of the Month Facebook Contest page, KTK’s Facebook page and Our Town’s Facebook page.

Mentioned in the Charity of the Month page in Our Town Magazine.

$

300 NOMINATOR SPONSOR

•

Recognized on the Charity of the Month Facebook Contest page, KTK’s Facebook page and Our Town’s Facebook page.

•

Mentioned in the Charity of the Month page in Our Town Magazine.

$

100 RANDOM VOTER SPONSOR

•

Recognized on the Charity of the Month Facebook Contest page.

•

Mentioned in the Charity of the Month page in Our Town Magazine

MOST RECENT WINNING ORGANIZATIONS TO NOMINATE A CHARITY OF YOUR CHOICE OR TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE NOMINEES, VISIT:

www.facebook.com/SunStateFCU and click on “Charity of the Month”

APRIL 2017 WINNER - 1,253 VOTES

MAY 2017 WINNER - 2,115 VOTES

PETS & PATRIOTS

ROTTWEILER RESCUE

Pets and Patriots Foundation’s mission is to train dogs to become PTSD service dogs for veterans. Some of their service dogs are former shelter dogs saved by a rescue group and donated to a veteran. By pairing carefully screened rescued dogs that have received specialized service dog training with a veteran battling PTSD, Pets and Patriots saves two lives — a rescued dog and a veteran who has served our country.

This North Central Florida non-profit organization also supports spay/neuter initiatives that help decrease euthanasia of adoptable pets at county shelters. The organization aims to decrease euthanasia of adoptable dogs at county animal shelters, and decrease the number of veterans waiting years for assistance when they return from their service to our country. Pets and Patriots is funded entirely upon donations. Learn more at petsandpatriotsfoundation.org.

Gulfstream Guardian Angels Rottweiler Rescue is a nonprofit animal rescue organization dedicated to saving and rehoming Rottweilers. Thanks to the dedication, time and efforts of those involved, GGARR continues to experience countless happy endings for these dogs.

Without the generosity of donations, whether they are monetary, volunteering, fostering, or providing needed supplies, the amazing stories of these animals receiving care, love and finding forever homes would not be possible. For more information about GGARR, dogs available for adoption, or to see how else you can help and get involved, visit ggarr.org.

Louise Kuttler will win $300 for nominating GGARR and the random charity is Dream Team and they will receive $500. The random voter, Shayna Goldrich will get $100.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS >> CHARITY OF THE MONTH

CH A RIT Y OF THE MONTH WINNER S

A project of the SunState Community Foundation, Inc. Presented by SunState Federal Credit Union, Our Town Family of Magazines and Entercom Communications

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TASTE OF THE TOWN

SPECIAL RESTAURANT ADVERTISING SECTION. CALL

352-372-5468

FOR RATES AND INFORMATION.

Brown’s Country Buffet 14423 NW US Hwy 441, Alachua, FL 32616 Monday-Friday 7:00am - 8:00pm Saturday 7:00am - 2:00pm Sunday 8:00am - 3:00pm

386-462-3000 brownscountrybuffet.net Casual — Country-style cooking at its finest, just like Grandma’s house! A buffet style restaurant, Brown’s Country Buffet is open seven days a week! Foods like fried chicken, grilled pork chops, real mashed potatoes, steamed cabbage, banana pudding and coconut pie, just to name a few, are served in a laid-back, relaxing environment. We offer AYCE fried shrimp on Friday nights from 4-8 along with whole catfish & ribs. In addition to their buffet, Brown’s also offers a full menu to choose from. Serving lunch and dinner daily and a breakfast buffet Friday-Sunday until 10:30am, you’re sure to leave satisfied, no matter when you go. So, when you’re in the mood for some good home cooking, Grandma’s style, visit Brown’s Country Buffet.

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s 1999 NW 43rd St., Gainesville Monday - Saturday 11am - 11pm Sunday 11:00am -10:00pm

352-379-7800 www.beefobradys.com Family Friendly — Beef O Brady’s is a neighborhood pub where friends and families can gather to enjoy hot, fresh and great food. Grab a cold beer or a signature drink and watch your favorite sports on multiple TV’s in a fun, comfortable atmosphere. The menu starts with plenty of sharable starters to choose from. Beef’s is known for their “award winning” wings and famous wing sauce. Hand crafted sandwiches and the “build your own” Angus burgers are always sure to please. Be sure to visit their website for daily specials such as,Taco Tuesday and seafood combo Fridays. If it’s the lighter side you are looking for, they do have salads and soups. Plenty of choices for the kids to please even the smallest of appetites. See you at Beef’s!

Adam’s Rib Co. 2109 NW 13th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32609 1515 SW 13th Street Gainesville, Florida 32608 Monday-Saturday 7:00am – 9:00pm Closed Sunday

352-373-8882 NW 352-727-4005 SW AdamsRibCo.com BBQ — Celebrating our 10 year Anniversary. Looking for the best BBQ in Gainesville?

Then look no further than Adam’s Rib Co. Adam’s is North Florida’s Premier Barbecue restaurant, serving North Florida’s finest bbq spare ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, slow smoked chicken and turkey. Choose from over 20 sauces – from honey sweet to habanero hot – and everything in between. Don’t forget dessert, like our scrumptious banana pudding and famous peach cobbler. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, Adam’s can cater any event locally. Give Adam a call for your next tailgate party 352-514-8692!

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Dave’s New York Deli 12921 SW 1st Road • Tioga Town Center Open 7 Days

352-333-0291 www.DavesNYDeli.com Authentic NY deli — The Reviews are in and here’s what customers are saying about Dave’s NY Deli Tioga Town Center! “Best Reuben, Best Pastrami, Best Philly, and Best Wings” Dave’s continues to be the place to go for authentic NY Deli food and Philly Cheesesteaks. Owner Dave Anders says “Nothing beats quality ingredients combined with a friendly staff. Dave serves New York size Pastrami and Corned Beef sandwiches, Cheesecake from New York, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, NY Kettle Boiled Bagels, Nova Salmon, Knish, Cannolies, Philly Cheesesteaks, Wings, Cubans, Subs, Kids Menu and more.” Come out and enjoy Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner at Dave’s NY Deli.

Now serving beer and wine.

Copper Monkey West 14209 W Newberry Road, Jonesville, FL 32669 Across from the Steeplechase Publix Sunday-Thursday 11:00am - 11:00pm Friday-Saturday 11:00am - 12:00am

352-363-6338 mycoppermonkey.com Restaurant & Pub — Now serving Breakfast on Saturdays & Sundays 8:30am - 10:45am. We are located in the heart of Jonesville, this All-American dining is convenient to all neighborhoods in Gainesville, Alachua, Newberry, High Springs and beyond. Our family-friendly dining features great food at a great price. Whether you come in for the “best burger in town” or try any one of our freshly made salads, pastas or sandwiches, you will not leave disappointed. Our USDA choice steaks, served with 2 sides, offer a great alternative for the perfect celebratory meal. We also feature a full-service bar with signature drinks and many options for your viewing pleasure.

Great food, great price, we’ll see you soon.

Bev’s Burger Café 315 NE Santa Fe Blvd. • High Springs Monday - Saturday 7am-9pm

386-454-9434 Casual — If you’re looking for fresh, homemade food in High Springs, look no further than Bev’s Burger Cafe. Known for the best burgers in town and fast, friendly service you’re sure to leave satisfied. You may also want to try one of their BBQ dinner favorites such as sliced pork, smoked turkey, BBQ chicken, baby back ribs, and more. Stop on by with the kids on Monday nights for some magic & balloon animals with Magic Mike.

Every Tuesday pork sandwiches are $3.00 all day. Also, on Wednesday nights starting at 5pm sodas and their famous tea are only $1.00, and bottled beer only $1.50. Don’t forget Bev’s is open for breakfast, also, served from 7am to 10:45am. Come check out our newly renovated kitchen & dining room, and our new menu items including fried chicken!

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SPECIAL RESTAURANT ADVERTISING SECTION. CALL

352-372-5468

FOR RATES AND INFORMATION.

Flying Biscuit Café 4150 NW 16th Blvd., Gainesville, FL 32605 Located in the Fresh Market Center Monday-Friday 7:00am – 3:00pm • Saturday-Sunday 7:00am – 4:00pm

352-373-9500 www.flyingbiscuit.com Breakfast — The Flying Biscuit is out to reinvent breakfast in Gainesville! Maybe you’ve tried their soon-to-be-famous creamy, dreamy grits or their “moon dusted” breakfast potatoes, but did you know you can have them at anytime? With a unique open menu, all the items that appear are available throughout the day. With a variety of healthy and hearty dishes, The Flying Biscuit caters to a variety of tastes. With options ranging from the Smoked Salmon Scramble, the Bacon Cheddar Chicken Sandwich or the Tofu and Tater Salad, there’s something for everyone. Call us up to an hour before your expected arrival time to add your name to our call ahead seating list.

Bar 352 3726 SW 40th Blvd - Located in the DoubleTree by Hilton Gainesville Open Monday - Sunday 11:00am - 11:00pm

352-375-2400 Comfort — Located inside the DoubleTree by Hilton Gainesville. Bar 352 is an elegant but casual restaurant that offers a unique indoor/outdoor bar and a 12-foot TV wall.

Serving both lunch and dinner, we have a variety of choices. From our Fried Green Tomatoes, Chicken and Waffles, to our Burgers, Sandwiches, Salads or Soups. And entrees such as Shrimp and Grits or Florida Cut Sirloin, all are sure to satisfy. But save room for our delicious dessert selection and DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies. Enjoy our daily Happy Hour menu with Specialty drinks, Beer, and Wine. Don’t forget our amazing Sunday brunch with a Bloody Mary Bar and Endless Mimosas, and all day Happy Hour that is sure to end your weekend off just right.

Divots Bar & Grill 3200 NW 98th St. ( Meadow Brook Golf Coarse ) Open to the Public - Mon.- Sun. 10am - 9pm

352-204-2384 Cafe & Banquet — Open to the Public. We are located in Meadowbrook Golf Course next to the Pro shop. We offer a wide variety for a fresh and quick choices for lunch or dinner. Swing in before or after your game! We have your choice of beverages or enjoy an ice cold beer chilled and ready to go along side one of our Specialty burgers or Buddy’s favorites such as a Buffalo chicken wrap, Divot dogs, and Wings. For a lighter side, we offer House Garden, Chicken Cobb and many more salad choices. Catering is available. We have a banquet area that can accommodate up to 120 guests. Call us and book the space for your next meeting. It’s also a great venue for a wedding reception, graduation party and much more.

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Newberry’s Backyard BBQ 25405 West Newberry Road, Newberry Monday-Wednesday 11:00am – 9:00pm Thursday 11:00am – 9:00pm Friday and Saturday 11:00am – 11:00pm Sunday 10:30am – 3:00pm

352-472-7260 newberrybbq.com BBQ & BUFFET — The one and only Newberry’s Backyard BBQ is located in our historic building in beautiful downtown Newberry. Our pork, chicken, beef, and turkey is smoked to perfection daily. Our salads and sides are always fresh.

If you are thirsty we have the best sweet tea in the South and a full bar as well.

We now have an ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET Monday - Sunday 11am - 3pm and a Seafood Buffet on Fridays 5:30pm - 9:00pm

Backyard BBQ - Jonesville 14209 W. Newberry Rd. ( next to Frontyard Pizza) Jonesville, Fl. Monday -Thursday 11:00am - 9:00pm • Friday 11:00am -10:00pm Saturday - Sunday 11:00am - 9pm

352-505-3733 newberrybbq.com NOW OPEN IN JONEÀILLE — We have opened a second location to better serve our Bar-B-Q fans! Just like all your favorites in Newberry, our pork, chicken, beef, ribs and turkey are smoked to perfection daily. We have a great menu selection including Boneless Wings and Quesadillas. If it’s “between the buns” you are looking for, try the Three little pig sliders, Veggie burger or Smoked sausage just to name a few. Sides? You can choose from Fried Okra, Baked beans, Mac & cheese, Broccoli and so much more. Did I mention we have a salad bar? Kids menu is available. Beer and wine available. Dine- in, Carry out or Drive-thru window. We offer catering and discounts to large groups.

Frontyard Pizza 14209 W. Newberry Rd., Jonesville Monday - Thursday 11:00am - 9:00pm • Friday 11:00am - 10:00pm Sunday - Sunday 11:00am - 9:00pm

352-505-6979 Pizza , Subs and Salads — Now Open in the Jonesville area next to Backyard BBQ, we are proud to introduce, Frontyard Pizza! We offer Carry-out and drive-thru. Choose from a great variety of specialty pizza’s such as our most popular, Chicken-bacon-Ranch or 3 Cheese Spinache. You can also create your own with many meat and veggie toppings and a variety of sizes. We also offer calzones, hot and cold subs, and a great selection of salads. We recommend trying our Garlic Cinnamon Pig Tails for starters or cheese sticks. Whatever your taste buds are calling for Frontyard Pizza is sure to please!

Catering is available. Call for group and large party discounts.

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SPECIAL RESTAURANT ADVERTISING SECTION. CALL

352-372-5468

FOR RATES AND INFORMATION.

Pomodoro Café 9200 NW 39th Ave, Gainesville, FL 32606 Monday - Saturday 11am - 10pm Sunday 11am - 9pm

352-380-9886 pomodorocafe.com Italian — Step away from the hustle and bustle of Gainesville and enjoy a quiet, relaxing evening in the Italian countryside at Pomodoro Café. Just off I-75 via exit 390, Pomodoro’s is the perfect spot for a romantic evening or a simple night out with family.

We’ll pour you a glass of wine and prepare for you a delicious, authentic Italian meal, such as Chicken Parmigiana, Shrimp Fra Diavolo, and Gnocchi Madiera. Our pasta is imported from Italy and has been voted some of the best in Gainesville. As the sounds, aromas, and tastes of wholesome, authentic Italian swirl around you, you’ll believe you’re actually in Italy!

Tony & Al’s Restaurant & Bar 14960 Main Street, Alachua, Florida 32616 OPEN 7 DAYS Monday-Thursday 11:00am – 9:00pm Friday-Saturday 11:00am – 10:00pm Sunday 11:00am – 8:00pm

386-518-5552 Italian — Locally owned and operated, Tony & Al’s Deli provides the finest quality Italian entrees in a family friendly atmosphere. Whether it’s their delicious appetizers, pasta classics, specialty pizzas, salads, sandwiches, wraps, burgers or prime rib, Tony & Al use only their freshest ingredients. Their sauces, dressings and specialty desserts including cannolis and tiramisu are all handcrafted. They serve daily lunch and dinner specials. Tony and Al offer a full bar with happy hour from 5pm-7pm including $1.00 off all drafts, wine and well drinks.

Pepperoni’s 19975 NW 244 Street, High Springs Mon -Thurs 11:00am — 9:00pm • Fri & Sat 11:00am — 10:00pm Sunday 12:00pm — 9:00pm

386-454-3858 Pizzeria — Since its establishment in 2000, Pepperoni’s Pizzeria has been serving up some of the best pizzas, calzones, entrees, wings, boneless wings and salads in town using Grande brand premium mozzarella and other top ingredients. We also have great lunch specials starting at only $4.99. All of our specialty pizzas are loaded with toppings.

Pepperoni’s is locally owned and operated and is proud to serve the High Springs Community and surrounding areas. We are located on U.S. Highway 441.

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Gators Den Sports Grill 4200 NW 97th Blvd Gainesville, FL 32606 Sunday -Thursday 5:00pm — 10:00pm Friday & Saturday 5:00pm — 12 :00am

352-331-4875 Gatorsdensportsgrill.com Bar & Grill— Offering a full bar, fantastic food and flat screen televisions to watch the big game. The Gators Den Sports Grill is the best spot to unwind, meet up and grab a bite to eat. Gators Den Sports Grill has your front row seat to every game. Besides showing all of the televised University of Florida football games, we also feature NFL Ticket, NBA League Pass and MLB Extra Innings, so you can root on your favorite team. You may come for the game, but you’ll stay for the food! Featuring a large selection of American favorites. Why not try a Southern staple, like our award-winning Mac and Cheese, Fried Pickles, Down Home Meatloaf. Enjoy game-day classics like Buffalo Wings, All-American Burgers or one of our Knockout Premium Steaks, cooked to perfection.

Smoke Fried 23352 W US Hwy 27, Suite 50, High Springs, FL 32643 Monday -Thursday 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM • Friday - Saturday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM Sunday 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

386-454-7031 www.smokefried.com Casual — Offering traditional smokehouse flavors through a variety of BBQ favorites and dishes with a new spin, served in a casual setting with a large portion of friendly service. Getting home late, running from appointments to practice, just too exhausted to cook? We have the whole family covered with home style favorites or BBQ packs for dine in or carry out. In a hurry? Order online and zip by on your way from here to there. Half priced kid’s meals on Monday nights with the purchase of an adult meal.

Grab some friends and family and come try “The Lid,” our BBQ feast served on a garbage can lid for sharing.

Napolatanos 606 NW 75th Street Gainesville, FL Tuesday - Thursday & Sunday 4:00pm-10:00pm Friday 4:00pm-1:00am • Saturday 4:00pm-11:00pm

352-332-6671 www.napolatanos.com ITALIAN — Napolatanos is the longest original owner operated restaurant in Gainesville. Nappys, the name the locals have given Napolatanos has the most extensive menu.

Whether you choose pizza, calzones, salad, burgers, sandwiches, pasta, seafood, steak dinners or the best chicken wings in town, Nappy’s uses only the freshest ingredients.

Visit on Tuesday for half price appetizers. Burgers & Brew Night on Wednesday and live music inside. Thursday is Pub night with Better than England’s Fish & Chips $7. Outside dining with live music, on the patio, on Sunday evenings. GRAB & GO family dinners feeds 4-6 adults, starting at $25.95. Choose from Ziti, Lasagna, Chicken Alfredo, Chicken Marsala and more!

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SPECIAL RESTAURANT ADVERTISING SECTION. CALL

352-372-5468

FOR RATES AND INFORMATION.

Crane Ramen 16 SW 1st Ave. Gainesville Sun-Wed: 11:00 am - 4pm • 5pm - 10pm • Thu-Sat: 11am - 4pm • 5pm - 1am Sunday Brunch beginning at 11am

352-727-7422 www.craneramen.com Authentic Craft Ramen — Owners Fred Brown and Bill Bryson opened a restaurant serving sensuous, Japanese comfort food. Ramen creates a harmony of flavors, enjoyed layer by layer as they are mixed throughout your bowl. The richness of ingredients thoughtfully concocted delivers complete dining satisfaction. Crane Ramen is committed to a local/sustainable model of sourcing the best and healthiest ingredients.

Our meat, eggs and poultry are sourced locally whenever possible. All of our food is scratch-made! We have our soup stocks bubbling 24 hours a day! In addition to ramen we also have a seasonal variety of delicious otsumami. Crane Ramen also has also curated its own unique offering of beer, wine, sake and creative cocktails!

Piesanos Stone Fired Pizza (Archer Road) 5757 SW 75th St. — 352-371-8646 • (Millhopper Road) 5200 NW 43rd St. — 352-371-7437 (University) 1250 W University Ave. — 352-375-2337 • (Grand Oaks Plaza) 2575 SW 42nd St. Ocala — 352-351-6000

Mon-Thurs: 11am-10pm Fri-Sat: 11am-11pm Sun: 11am-10pm

www.piesanostogo.com Pizza, Pints & Pies — Piesanos is a locally owed and operated restaurant that is proud to use only the finest ingredients available, including Grande brand premium mozzarella. We are a full service dine in restaurant with an attached take out center and also offer catering. Our dough is made fresh daily and all of our pizzas are baked directly on the stone in our unique Granite Stone Fired Pizza Oven. We offer a great variety of Specialty pizzas, such as our Pizza Antico-(ultra thin crust- Fresh Mozzarella, mini cup & char pepperoni & fresh basil) Specialty Pastas, Calzones, Fresh soups and salads, classic italian entrees, and a great selection of craft beer. We also offer a gluten free menu. For full menu please visit PIESANOSTOGO.COM.

Bangkok Square 6500 SW Archer Rd, Gainesville Lunch: Monday-Friday 11:00am-3:00pm • Saturday-Sunday 12:00pm-3:00pm Dinner: Sunday-Thursday 5:00pm-9:30pm • Friday-Saturday 5:00pm-10:00pm

352-375-4488 www.bangkoksquarefl.com Authentic Thai Cuisine — Thai cuisine, blending the best elements of the freshest foods. Thai herbs; garlic, basil, ginger, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal root, chili and more, prepared with the finest blending of fish sauce, shrimp paste, and coconut milk. All of our meals are made to order and prepared on site. We specialize in vegetarian, vegan and gluten free orders. All of our foods can be prepared to your satisfaction with mild, medium, hot, or Thai hot, balanced to the four tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and slightly bitter. Meals can be prepared for take out and we cater to any event. We also have gift cards available. Save 10% off your next dining experience when a gift card is purchased.

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Vegan 2Go 7625 W Newberry Rd Gainesville, FL. Mon thru Thursday 11am – 8 pm Fri and Sat. 11am-9pm • Sunday 12 pm – 7 pm

352-505-8894 Vegan2GoGainesville.com COOKING WITH LOVE — This vegetarian & vegan restaurant is based on the concept that people and animals can live in harmony through sustainable plant based solutions.

You can be sure that their ingredients are carefully selected from non-GMO, non-MSG, sea salt and organic products. The final result: something that’s delicious, tasty, healthy, and vegan! Their healthy barbeque skewers made from soy or the infamous vegan ginger onion chick’n, are sure to have you craving for more. If you want some bang for your buck, try one of the combos: your choice of noodles or rice with spring rolls, summer rolls, and either BBQ or vegan chicken. If you’re feeling a bit adventurous with your appetite, try making your own combo! Don’t forget the delicious, fragrant Thai Iced Tea!

Mi Apá Latin Café Gainesville – 114 SW 34th Street (352-376-7020) Alachua – 15634 US Highway 441 (386-418-0838) Both locations open every day 7:00am - 10:00pm

MiApaLatinCafe.com Cuban — Everyone knows Mi Apá has an amazing lunch and dinner menu, but we also have Gainesville’s best cup of coffee and a delicious, authentic selection of Cuban breakfast items. Enjoy a Cuban egg sandwich, Arroz a la Cubana, a stuffed arepa, and much more at either of our two locations in Gainesville and Alachua. Mi Apá Latin Café serves traditional Cuban breakfast prepared using only the freshest, most authentic ingredients. Have a seat in our casual dining area and enjoy the morning newspaper or order carryout on your way to work. Our Gainesville location even has a convenient drive-thru window. The best Cuban food north of Miami is always just minutes away!

World of Beer 140 SW 128th Street • Tioga Town Center, Jonesville 32669 3265 SW 34th Street • Gainesville, Florida 32608 Open at 11am Everyday

352-727-4714 (Tioga) 352-559-8775 (Gville) worldofbeer.com TAVERN FARE — At World of Beer, we have 40 craft beers on tap, over 500 in the cooler and now we have added a tasty tavern fare that’s crafted to go perfectly with any beer. Our menu offers a wide variety of choices including a giant pretzel with beer cheese dip, artisan sausage boards, flat breads, innovative sandwiches and burgers, soups, salads and so much more! Visit our web site for a full menu and event schedule.

Whether you’re a beer master or just beer curious, our insanely knowledgeable staff is here to guide you through every last pint, pour, and pairing. So c’mon. Let’s go. Because there’s no better place to go around the world, one sip at a time.

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COMMU NIT Y C A LENDA R

J U LY/ A U G U S T 2 0 1 7

National Park Service Birthday

Friday, August 25 America’s Best Idea — the national parks — is even better when it’s free! Enjoy free admission to national parks all day to celebrate this event, and be sure to visit nps.gov for more information and mark your calendars for other free admission days!

YOGA WITH JANKE

WIND DOWN WEDNESDAY

ARTWALK GAINESVILLE

Mondays 5:30pm – 6:30pm

Wednesdays 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM

Last Friday 7:00pm - 10:00pm

GAINESVILLE - UF HealthStreet, 2401 Old Archer Rd. Yoga is proven to reduce stress, increase flexibility and increase mindfulness. Stop by for these weekly free classes and come earlier to learn about many resources HealthStreet can provide. 352-294-4880.

GAINESVILLE - 101 Downtown, 201 SW 2nd Ave. Enjoy wine and live jazz. Seasonal wines are available for half price for patrons to find their perfect wine. $20 all-you-can-drink house wine.

352-283-8643.

GAINESVILLE - Downtown. Free, monthly selfguided tour that combines exciting visual art, live performance and events with many local galleries, eateries and businesses participating. www.artwalkgainesville.com.

TAP DANCE WITH CHAYA Tuesdays

Wednesdays 9:30pm – 11:00pm

GAINESVILLE - YMCA, Studio 2, 5201 NW 34th Blvd. Designed to demonstrate that creativity can be fun for everyone and make our community stronger and healthier! Open to the public, all are welcome. 6:00pm beginner and 7:00pm intermediate. Class cards are 6/$74 or 10/$108.

352-358-5005.

GAINESVILLE - Rockeys Dueling Piano Bar, 112 S Main St. Local comedians open the show for a different nationally touring headliner each week. Doors open at 8:45pm and price is $5, with drink specials accompanying the show.

352-505-0042.

BIRD WALK

GAINESVILLE HARMONY SHOW CHORUS

Wednesdays 8:30am

GAINESVILLE - Sweetwater Wetlands Park, 325 SW Williston Rd. Birding field. Trips will be led by volunteers from Alachua Audubon Society.

Walks are free, but park admission is $5 per car. www.alachuaaudubon.org.

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Thursdays 7:00pm – 9:30pm

GAINESVILLE - Grace Presbyterian Church, 3146 NW 13th St. For all who are interested in learning and singing women’s a cappella barbershop harmony music. 352-318-1281.

LADY GAMERS Fridays 1:00pm

HIGH SPRINGS - New Century Woman’s Club, 40 NW 1st Ave. Meet for fun, friendship and food. Everyone is invited. Meet old friends and make some new ones.

MUSIC IN THE PARK Third Sunday 2:00pm – 4:00pm

HIGH SPRINGS - 120 NW 2nd Ave. A free concert featuring artists from all over North Florida.

Performances take place at locations in and around the James Paul Park area.

ME & JEZEBEL July 7 - 23

GAINESVILLE - Actors’ Warehouse, 619 NE 1st

PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC ZAMORA

St. It all starts when a mutual friend brings Bette Davis to Elizabeth Fuller’s house for dinner. As the days progress, it becomes clear that Davis thrives on conflict and high tension, and that she is only truly happy when she is stirring things up. 352-376-8561.

PET A REPTILE PROGRAM Saturday, July 8 10:00am - 11:00am

GAINESVILLE - Hogtown Reptile Shop, 2104 SW 34th St. Free event offering children a chance to ask questions; while learning something new, they get to touch and feed some of the animals, depending on the subject of the day. 352-378-5376.

WRITERS ALLIANCE OF GAINESVILLE Sunday, July 9 2:30pm – 4:00pm

GAINESVILLE - Millhopper Branch Library, 3145 NW 43rd St. The meeting features a speaker or a panel discussion on a subject of interest to writers, whether novice or professional. Free and open to anyone interested in the written word. Writersalliance.org.

RED, WHITE & MORE RED Thursday, July 13 6:00-8:00 pm

GAINESVILLE - Gainesville Woman’s Club, 2809 West University Ave. Wine Tasting Event with Appetizers, a charity to benefit Girl’s Place.

Cost: $25. For reservations call 352-376-3901.

FASHION SHOW AND RECEPTION Saturday, July 15 7:00pm

GAINESVILLE - Senior Recreation Center, 5701 NW 34 St. Back Draft on The Runway Fashion Show will fund The Donald J. King Scholarship, created to award an eligible recipient who plans to pursue a career as a Firefighter, First Responder, Paramedic, or EMT in the fire or emergency services. Food and drinks available during the show and reception. 352-265-9040.

GAINESVILLE OLD-TIME DANCE SOCIETY (GODS) CONTRA DANCE Saturday, July 15 5:45pm – 10:00pm

GAINESVILLE - Thelma A. Boltin Center, 516 NE 2nd Ave. Contra dancing is energetic, social dancing that’s fun for everyone (all ages are welcome), and no partner is necessary. Live music. Dances are taught, walked through, and

Legally Blonde Musical July 7 – 30 GAINESVILLE - Gainesville Community Playhouse, 4039 NW 16th Blvd. This action-packed musical explodes on the stage with memorable songs and dynamic dances as we follow the transformation of Elle Woods as she tackles stereotypes, snobbery and scandal in pursuit of her dreams. 352-376-4949.

called. No experience or special dress is required.

Wear casual attire and comfortable shoes. If you are new, please come to the beginner lesson (workshop) that begins about 30 minutes before the dance. Godsdance.org.

SUMMER SHAKESPEARE: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Through July 15 Times Vary

GAINESVILLE - Acrosstown Repertory Theatre, 619 S. Main St. If you caught last year’s Twelfth Night and thought things couldn’t get more ridiculous, you couldn’t be more wrong! Mistaken identities, naughty bits and a masquerade ball — along with more serious meditations on honor, shame and politics — hey, what’s not to love?

The ART makes Shakespeare accessible to all, in every sense. Acrosstown.org.

DISCOVERY ZONE UNVEILING Monday, July 17 Times Vary

GAINESVILLE - Florida Museum of Natural History, 3215 Hull Rd. The “Discovery Zone,” a new, interactive permanent exhibit opens.

Designed for children 8 and under, the exhibition provides opportunities for families to discover and learn together. It includes an area for infants and toddlers, as well as a vast array of touchable objects. See a fully articulated human skeleton and replica T. rex skull, view items under microscopes and enter a forest habitat. The exhibit is free. 352-846-2000.

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CANCER CONNECTIONS Wednesday, July 26 12:00pm – 1:00pm

GAINESVILLE - HealthStreet, 2401 SW Archer Rd. Dr. Julia Close will talk about lung cancer treatment. This monthly meeting with networking opportunities is for anyone involved in the care or treatment of cancer patients, or provides a service to them. Lunch provided for those who RSVP; $4 donation is requested. Barb Thomas: bnbbarb@aol.com or www.myhealthstreet.org.

HARRY POTTER’S BIRTHDAY PARTY Monday, July 31 1:00pm - 2:00pm

NEWBERRY - Newberry Library, 110 S. Seaboard Dr. Celebrate Harry Potter’s Birthday party at the library with lots of fun events. All Muggles invited to this free event! 352-472-1135.

ANNIE JR. August 4 - 13 Times Vary

Corey Brewer’s Basketball Camp July 31 – Aug. 2

9:00am - 3:00pm

GAINESVILLE - Buchholz High School, 5510 NW 27th Ave. Join Corey for a fun-filled three days of drill stations, 5-on-5 games, lectures, contests and education sessions! Each camper will receive lunch, a t-shirt, pictures with Corey, awards, camp certificate and instruction from some of the top coaches in the region. The camp is open to youth ages 9-17. All proceeds benefit the University of Florida Diabetes Institute. Cost is $150. Coreybrewer.com.

WILDERNESS SURVIVAL FOR TEENS July 17 – 18 8:00am – 3:00pm

GAINESVILLE - UF-IFAS Alachua County Extension Office, 2800 NE 39th Ave. This camp will offer outdoor activities that will be helpful for kids interested in hiking/camping. Skills will include rope tying, fire starting, compass reading, finding wild edibles, first aid and more.

Campers will compete in an obstacle course that will test their knowledge of and competency with wilderness survival skills. 352-955-2402.

AIR RIFLE CAMP July 17 – 21 9:00am – 11:00am

GAINESVILLE - Gator Skeet & Trap Club, 5202

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NE 46th Ave. This camp is designed to teach the fundamentals of safe shooting with an Air Rifle. Class is limited to six campers. Campers will learn basic shooting positions along with cleaning and care of the equipment (which is provided). Ages 8 – 18. 352-372-1044.

10 OUT OF 12 July 20 – 23 Times Vary

GAINESVILLE - University of Florida Constans Theatre. This new comedy immerses the audience in the middle of episodes from 10 out of 12-hour technical rehearsals of a new play, allowing it to eavesdrop on backstage conversations over headsets as the actors and production team try to manage their personal and professional lives. Arts.ufl.edu.

HIGH SPRINGS - High Springs Playhouse, 130 NE 1st Ave. With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. Annie is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of an orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. 386-454-3525.

MARKETING WORKSHOP FOR AUTHORS Saturday, Aug. 5 9:00am – 4:00pm

GAINESVILLE - Saint Leo University, 4650 NW 39th Ave. The Writers Alliance of Gainesville is holding a one-day workshop for writers on tools for marketing and self-promotion to sell their work. Topics include targeting your audience, website and social media, networking skills and use of personal contacts, book-signings, advertising and promotion, effective proposals, speaking opportunities, broadcast and print media. Members: $35; non-members: $50 – includes lunch. Contact Roz: Roz57@cox.net; 352-692-4466.

SHOTGUN CAMP August 7 – 11 Times Vary

GAINESVILLE - Gator Skeet & Trap Club, 5202 NE 46th Ave. Youth (ages 10 – 18) learn shooting safety in a well-supervised environment by certified instructors. Cost varies, depending on the class level, $46 - $170. 352-372-1044.

R A L U C A T C E P S2017-2018 SEASON » THE RING Saturday, April 7, 7 7:30PM

L’AMOUR » L’AMO » THE THE NUTCRACKER N TC NU TCRA RACK RA CKER E 15, 7:30PM Fr Frid iday ay,, De Dec. c. 1 5, 7 :30P :3 0PM M Friday, » ASPIRE! SPIRE!

Saturday, 16, 2PM Sa Satu turd rday ay,, De Dec. c. 1 6, 2 P

Thursday, y, October 26, 7:30PM. M.

Sunday, 17, Su Sund nday a , De ay Dec. c. 1 7 2 PM

A jaw-dropping g program produced ced with support from the University of Florida Provost’s Office and UFPA.

The all-time T Th e al a l-ti ltim m family favorite. favo fa vori rite te It’s just not holidays without the th eh the tth h Nutcracker! Sheer magic!

Wednesday, Feb. 14, Wed 7:30PM 7 A perfect Valentine’s night out for you and your loved ones! LOVE’ is at the heart of this show.

Combining forces once again with Conductor Raymond Chobaz and the UF Symphony orchestra, DANB presents ‘The Ring’, a world premier created to a symphonic version of Wagner’s ‘Ring’ cycle.. Also on the program will be UF professor Welson Tremura and his fantastic classical guitar quartet. Unusual and innovative program for all!

Ph P hot otos by Jo John hn hnst nst s on Pho hoto togr to togr grap a hyy ap

All performances at Curtis M. Phillips Cente Center er for the Performing Arts For For information: i fo in form rm mattio on: Dancealive.org Dan ance ceal ce aliv al ive. iv e.or e.or org g • dalive@bellsouth.net dali da livvve li ve@b @beel @b ells l outh ou uth.n h.n net e • 352-371-2986 352 52-3 -371 71-2 298 986 6 JULY/AUGUST 2017

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WRITERS ALLIANCE OF GAINESVILLE Sunday, Aug. 13 2:30pm – 4:00pm

ELLEN BUKSTEL The Great Outdoors Restaurant

6-8 PM

GAINESVILLE - Millhopper Branch Library, 3145 NW 43rd St. The meeting features a speaker or a panel discussion on a subject of interest to writers, whether novice or professional. Free and open to anyone interested in the written word. Writersalliance.org.

SUMMER WEDDING EXPO Sunday, Aug. 13

MARY Z COX

QUARTERMOON

2:00pm – 6:00pm

The Great Outdoors Restaurant

James Paul Park

12-1 PM

5-6 PM

ALACHUA - Santa Fe River Ranch, 29220 NW 122nd St. Connect with local wedding professionals around Alachua, Gainesville, Lake City, and surrounding areas. From food trucks to photo booths, find everything you need to make your wedding the day of your dreams. 386-365-9966.

CANCER CONNECTIONS Wednesday, August 23 12:00pm – 1:00pm

GAINESVILLE - HealthStreet, 2401 SW Archer Rd. Dr. Coy Heldermon will talk about advances in triple negative breast cancer research. This monthly meeting with networking opportunities is for anyone involved in the care or treatment of cancer patients, or provides a service to them. Lunch provided for those who RSVP; $4 donation is requested. Barb Thomas: bnbbarb@aol.com or www.myhealthstreet.org.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE BIRTHDAY Friday, Aug. 25 Times Vary

CRUCIAL EDDY COTTON

Old Schoolhouse & Community Center

1-2 PM

CLIFF DORSEY

High Springs Fire Dept 2-3 PM

AUSTIN MILLER

High Springs Library 3-4 PM

PAUL & KAY GARFINKEL

High Springs Women’s Club

4-5 PM

GAINESVILLE - Locations vary. America’s Best Idea — the national parks — is even better when it’s free! Enjoy free admission to national parks all day to celebrate this event, and be sure to visit nps.gov for more information and mark your calendars for other free admission days!

LABOR DAZE FEST Sunday September 3 4:00pm -10pm

PRODUCED BY

HIGH SPRINGS MUSIC IN THE PARK SERIES

GAINESVILLE - Bo Diddley Plaza. The 6th Annual Labor Daze Fest, “By Locals, For Locals, About Locals!” Free concert, featuring five local bands, 50 local vendors and a free rock wall.

SEND CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS TO: 4 4 00 N W 3 6 T H A V E ., G A I N E S V I L L E , F L 32 606 or E V E N T S @ T O W E R P U B L I C A T I O N S . C O M High Springs CRA

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JULY/AUGUST 2017 100% ORIGINAL MUSIC FROM 100% ORIGINAL ARTISTS

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Celebrate summer like a rock star, all in one extraordinary place.

Now – August 13, 2017

The whole family will be hangin’ ten with these rockin’ activities: • I Wanna Rock! Sing-A-Long Show, Rockin’ Arts & Crafts and Build - A - Bear Workshop® • Aquafina® RiffTide Pool Party, PJ Party Under the Sea and Dive-in Movies • Cypress Springs Family Fun Water Park featuring our all - NEW Big Cypress 60ft waterslide and double FlowRider® • Seasonal spa treatments, dining events and much more!

Book Your Getaway Today!

GaylordPalms.com/SummerFest

| (407) 586-2000

PEPSI, PEPSI-COLA and the Pepsi Globe are registered trademarks of PepsiCo, Inc., AQUAFINA is a registered trademark of PepsiCo, Inc. © & ® Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

PROUD PARTNER

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EXHIBITION >> UF SCIENCE & ART COMPETITION

OPEN TO INTERPRETATION

Art of

The

Science S C I E N T I F I C A R T WO R K E X H I B I T I O N

Every year the Marston Science Library and Florida Museum organize this competition for UF students, staff and faculty who create two-dimensional images as part of their research, or that feature scientific tools or concepts. The contest emphasizes the connection between artistic and scientific perceptions of reality.

Here are this year’s winners and several honorable mentions.

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DERMATOBIA (1st Place)

BY LAWRENCE REEVES (UF STUDENT, ENTOMOLOGY AND NEMATOLOGY) Botflies are roughly the size of a bumblebee, and very noticeable when laying eggs on mammal hosts.

Because botflies are so large, they have a difficult time laying eggs without being swatted away.

Some botflies will intercept and tackle a mosquito in flight and lay eggs on it.

The mosquito delivers the eggs to the host when it lands to feed on blood. The botfly larvae then crawl into the host animal’s skin through the bite opening.

I was in French Guiana looking for mosquitoes when I noticed this mosquito, Psorophora ferox, carrying a load of botfly eggs after feeding on my leg.

THE ART OF AAV GENE THERAPY (2nd Place)

BY PEDRO E. CRUZ (UF STAFF, NEUROSCIENCE) Adeno-associated virus is a versatile genetic tool used to deliver genes into the brain. The brain is composed of many different cell types. The most studied brain cells are neurons, oligodendrocytes, microglia and astrocytes. We explore the utilization of AAV to express genes into specific brain cells, and label the cells using fluorescent protein genes delivered by the virus: neurons – yellow; oligodendrocytes – green; microglia – red; and astrocytes – blue.

Cell specificity was accomplished using a brain cell-specific promoter.

The illustration summarizes our results using AAV in a mouse primary brain cell culture.

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OLFACTORY BULB OIL PAINTING (3rd place)

BY JEREMY MCINTYRE (UF FACULTY, NEUROSCIENCE) This picture is a stylized representation of a microscope image of cells in the olfactory bulb. The olfactory bulb is the region of the brain that first receives information about odors in the environment.

The red color is generated from special neurons that take this information from the nose and send it on to other regions of the brain. The blue is generated from a dye that stains the DNA of the other cells in the olfactory bulb that are needed to complete this process. The image is of a 10-micron-thick section of a mouse olfactory bulb, taken on a Nikon confocal microscope with a 60x objective lens. The red confirms the expression of a protein that will allow us to visualize neuronal activity in these cells as they respond to inputs.

MYSTERIES OF SYNOVIAL FLUID: NANOPARTICLES OR JELLYFISH? (Honorable Mention)

BY SHANNON BROWN (UF STUDENT, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING) Many scientific findings happen unexpectedly. This sample was the result of adding a new batch of nanoparticles to synovial fluid, the thick substance in major joints that allows smooth cartilage-on-cartilage movement. These two substances normally mix evenly, so I was astonished to observe the interaction that unfolded: immediately after adding a drop of the particles to the fluid, the particles shot out radially and plumed up to form this 3-D flower-like formation! This phenomenon was captured on an EVOS light microscope, 20X. The image is a reminder that dramatic changes can happen at even a small scale, and to keep our eyes open for the unexpected.

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EXHIBITION >> UF SCIENCE & ART COMPETITION

BETTER BUILDING BLOCKS (Honorable Mention)

BY CODY KUNKA (UF STUDENT, MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING) Materials Science furnishes and refines the building blocks of our lives. By developing advanced ceramics, we are now realizing unparalleled strengths, low weights, and extreme resistances to temperature and chemical reactions.

In our research, we upgrade and discover these new blocks through quantum mechanics, the branch of physics that links subatomic forces and energies to performance. This image was generated on one of the largest supercomputers in the United States and shows the distribution of electrons in boron suboxide.

Understanding this distribution allows us to discover a diverse set of behaviors, for example, the high symmetry and concentration of electrons of the blue regions suggest extraordinary strength. Ceramics like this one are already improving automobile safety, increasing aircraft efficiency, and shielding nuclear power plants, and we hope that our efforts will continue this progression.

DASYPUS NOVEMCINCTUS (HONORABLE MENTION)

BY ZACHARY RANDALL (UF STAFF, FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY) This image is of a fetus Nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus in dorsal view. This is the only species of the

BARK BEETLE CALLIGRAPHY 1: STYRACOPTINUS (Honorable Mention)

BY JIRI HULCR (UF FACULTY SCHOOL OF FOREST RESOURCES & CONSERVATION) The artists here are the Bark Beetles — little bugs with a bad reputation for killing trees — but to a careful observer, they provide an experience of beauty and fragility. All I do is beautify their calligraphy and magnify it to the human dimension. This piece represents a larger series (Bark Beetle Calligraphy).

Superorder Xenathra (armadillos, anteaters, and sloths) found in North America. The Nine-banded armadillo is protected by an outer shell composed of osteoderms. Osteoderms are bony deposits found in the dermal layer of the skin and is an anatomical structure not found in other non-xenathran mammals. This preserved fetus is important for better understanding osteoderm development. This specimen was imaged using a custom-made photo tank filled with distilled water.

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INNOVATION >> DEPRESSION TREATMENT

MAKING WAVES

Richard Holbert, MD, demonstrates use of the transcranial magnetic stimulation device on a mock patient.

PROVIDING RELIEF FROM DEPRESSION

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Clinically diagnosed (major) depression affects roughly 15 million adults in the U.S. per year, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

The debilitating disease — which is characterized by persistent sadness, a loss of interest in regular activities, trouble sleeping and lack of energy, among other symptoms — takes a toll not only on the individuals experiencing it but also on their families and friends and costs the U.S. $210 billion each year.

Depression is a difficult disease to treat, and many patients must try a number or combination of different medications, such as antidepressants, before they experience relief. Even still, not everyone suffering from the serious mood disorder responds to medication.

That’s where a pioneering therapy called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) comes in. The noninvasive treatment stimulates a part of the brain that is under-functioning in people with depression and has 120 |

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Richard Holbert, MD, director of TMS in UF’s Department of Psychiatry, has treated about 100 patients with the therapy since UF first started providing it in 2009.

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From trials to treatment TMS was developed in 1985 by the English medical physicist Anthony Barker, Ph.D., and his colleagues. The team created a small machine that could produce a spasm or twitch in a specific part of study participants’ hands by applying TMS to the area of the brain that controlled the movement of that hand muscle. The groundbreaking discovery? TMS could pinpoint and stimulate a specific area of the brain without producing pain in participants, who were awake during the experiment.

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been shown to be effective for many patients who don’t respond to antidepressants or psychotherapy.

“The ideal person is an individual who has failed to have a response from antidepressant medications,” said Richard Holbert, M.D., director of TMS in UF’s Department of Psychiatry. “You may have someone age 40 to 50 who is depressed, not sleeping well, has very poor energy and is not able to enjoy things in life or may be having thoughts of not wanting to live, and he or she hasn’t responded to Prozac. That is an ideal patient.

Or a person 50 to 60 or 25 to 35 with similar symptoms; they would also be very good candidates.”

During TMS therapy, an insulated electromagnetic coil is placed on a person’s scalp above the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain that is under-functioning — and an electric current is transmitted through the coil. The current produces a pulsating magnetic field that penetrates the scalp and tissue and stimulates neurons in the brain.

Patients typically don’t feel anything during the outpatient treatment, though some experience discomfort during the first few sessions, Holbert said. A typical TMS treatment plan is five days per week for four to six weeks, with each treatment taking fewer than 40 minutes.

“The unique and innovative thing about TMS is that it’s a treatment that can change brain function noninvasively,” Holbert said.

This means that the treatment doesn’t require any kind of incision or operation.

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cleared TMS as treatment for major depression in 2008.

There are multiple research studies going on around the country to assess TMS’s effectiveness in other conditions, said Holbert, who first learned about TMS during the latter part of his residency at UF in the mid- to late-1990s.

In UF’s Department of Psychiatry, researchers are investigating TMS as a treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and insomnia, as well as for smoking cessation. The department is also running a research study assessing its effectiveness in people age 13 to 21 since the FDA only cleared TMS for people age 22 and older.

As an example of the power and precision of TMS, Holbert said that putting the electromagnetic coil over the area of the brain that controls speech and giving low-frequency TMS — which inhibits neurons instead of stimulating them like high-frequency TMS — will prevent a person from forming words.

“Once you take it off, you’re completely fine and able to form words again,” he said. “It’s incredible.”

But how does it work?

UF Psychiatry first began providing TMS therapy in July 2009. Since then, Holbert has treated more than 100 patients with the therapy.

During the initial TMS treatment session, a patient sits down in a chair in an exam room, where a psychiatrist determines the correct location for coil placement and the right intensity.

The left side of the motor cortex of the brain controls movement on the right side, and vice versa, so to determine the location of the coil, the clinician searches the left part of the motor cortex for the area that makes the person’s right thumb twitch, Holbert said.

“That gives us a landmark,” he said. “The treatment location is — depending on the [TMS] machine you use — either 5.5 or 6 centimeters in front of that. Studies have shown that that is where the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is, and that area is not functioning the way it should.”

The electromagnetic coil is then placed on that precise spot on the person’s head, and the treatment begins. The patient remains awake; no sedatives or anesthesia is needed, and he or she is able to get up, drive home and go about his or her day after the therapy is over.

At UF, patients complete a depression rating scale with their psychiatrist once per week to monitor their progression.

A TMS technician typically provides the therapy after the initial session, along with supportive counseling to patients. The team encourages patients to be active; walking is shown to be especially helpful for depression, Holbert said.

“I’ve had patients have resolution [of their symptoms] in as little as six treatments,” Holbert said, while cautioning that timing and results are highly variable from patient to patient.

Since depression is often a recurring illness, TMS typically does not cure a person of depression, but rather, manages his

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or her symptoms over time. It is not uncommon for people to receive additional TMS treatments later. Some insurance companies cover the treatment while others do not.

“Most people require 20 to 30 treatments, and patients often start being able to sense positive change in 10 to 15 treatments,” Holbert said. “I’ve also had patients who have had no benefit at all for the first 25 treatments, and then all of a sudden, they see improvement.”

According to the International Neuromodulation Society, “in open-label clinical trials, after four to six weeks of treatment, one out of two patients treated with TMS for depression experienced a reduction in symptoms of 50 percent or more, and one out of three The brain scan shows that patients with depression (scan at right) have decreased experienced remission.” activity in certain parts of their brain.

Holbert said that if no benefit or improvement is seen after 30 treatments, TMS is not considered effective for There is also a risk of headache, as well as eye twitching the patient and is not continued. There are some patients who during the treatment and for certain patients there is a very don’t respond to the treatment at all.

Though many patients experience no side effects, some low risk of seizure.

“I see TMS growing significantly to other psychiatric illpeople feel discomfort at the site of the electromagnetic coil.

“Sometimes for the first couple treatments, patients say it nesses,” Holbert said. “There is a very good chance we will see feels like a woodpecker is pecking at their head,” Holbert said. it FDA-approved for OCD and smoking cessation, and a good “In eight years of doing this, I’ve had two people who couldn’t chance it will be utilized for those who have substance-use tolerate the treatment, but for most people, discomfort resolves disorders. It may even be utilized for schizophrenia … We’re very, very early with TMS.” in two to three treatments, if they have discomfort” at all.

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LOOKING BACK >> HISTORY OF IMPORTANT INVENTIONS

GREAT SCOTT

Then & Now The Growth of Historic Inventions

H

istoric inventions, such as the mechanical clock, have helped shape our daily lives. But where did it first begin? Improving on existing ideas is not uncommon. A “better mousetrap” is a phrase that is often used when referencing new and improved inventions. Think of the Apple Watch we know today. Trace that high-tech watch all the way back to the sundial. It’s amazing what thousands of years can do in moving an idea forward through time (no pun intended).

TELLING TIME

THEN: THE SUNDIAL- 3500 BC The simplest form of a sundial, the oldest known means of telling time, was a straight stick placed vertical in the ground so that it cast a shadow in sunlight.

Later sundials often took the form of a flat panel with the hours of the day marked on it and a vertical blade, called a gnomon, to cast the shadow. The use of the moving shadow of the gnomon as a means of tracking the progress of the day was invented independently by both the Chinese and the Chaldeans in about 3500 BC. The sundial with a small, circular plate beneath the gnomon has been attributed to the Greek writer and astronomer Anaximander, who is thought to have made the first one sometime between 610 and 547 BC. THE MECHANICAL CLOCK- 950 AD The first mechanical clock is attributed to the French Benedictine monk Gerbert d’Aurillac, who became Pope Sylvester II in 999 AD. Gerbert’s design used a system of gears run by counterbalanced

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weights. The first mention of a clock that struck a bell on the hour was recorded in Citeaux, France in 1120. The portable, spring-driven clock appears to have been invented in Florence, Italy, in 1410 by the famed architect Filippo Brunelleschi. Pocket watches evolved after the fifteenth century as minimizations of portable clocks, and the self-winding watch was invented by the French clock-maker A.L. Perrelet. The first wristwatch is said to have been made by Frenchman Louis Cartier for his Brazilian aviator friend Alberto Santos-Dumont for use in confirming a speed record on November 27, 1907.

NOW: APPLE WATCH According to Apple’s website, the Apple Watch Series 2 has a built-in GPS, and is water resistant to 50 meters. It boasts a lightning-fast dual-core processor, and a display that’s two times brighter than its previous model. The series 2 is full of features that help to keep a person active, motivated, and connected.

SOURCE: TECHWALLA.COM, APPLE.COM, CNN.COM, WIKIPEDIA.COM, BRITANNICA.COM

“Necessity is the mother of invention.”

— PROVERB Author Bill Yenne said that we humans have distinguished ourselves by our ability to think, to reason and to fashion tools and build machines that help us in our work. In other words, we invent! We use tools to extend or expand our capabilities.

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NAVIGATION THEN: THE COMPASS- 83 AD The magnetic compass, a device used to locate a northerly direction as an aid to navigation, is essentially a magnetized needle suspended in a box so that it can pivot freely. The needle aligns itself with the north-south axis of the magnetic field of the Earth. The discovery that a magnetic needle always aligns itself north-south occurred in China and is described in the book titled “Loven Heng.” By the ninth century the Chinese had developed both the floating needle and pivoting needle compasses that we know today.

SEXTANT- 1731 The sextant is an instrument for determining the angle between the horizon and a celestial body such as the Sun, the Moon, or a star, used in celestial navigation to determine latitude and longitude. According to britannica.com, the device consists of an arc of a circle, marked off in degrees, and a movable radial arm pivoted at the center of the circle. A telescope, mounted rigidly to the framework, is lined up with the horizon. The radial arm, on which a mirror is mounted, is moved until the star is reflected into a half-silvered mirror in line with the telescope and appears, through the telescope, to coincide with the horizon. The angular distance of the star above the horizon is then read from the graduated arc of the sextant. From this angle and the exact time of day registered by a chronometer, the latitude can be determined (within a few hundred meters) by means of published tables.

NOW: GARMIN NAVIGATION SYSTEM Garmin Global Positioning System receivers work by using GPS satellites that orbit the Earth. According to techwalla.com, these satellites circle the Earth twice each day and transmit signals back. The orbits have been arranged so that there are at least four satellites visible to GPS receivers at any one time. The Garmin GPS receiver picks up the satellite signals and uses them to triangulate the user’s location through a process called trilateration.

If you know you are 15 miles away from satellite A, you could be anywhere in a sphere with a 15-mile radius. But if you know that you are 10 miles from satellite B, you now have a second sphere that must converge with satellite A’s sphere. To further triangulate, you add a third sphere that says that you are 10 miles from satellite C. You now know that you are anywhere within that small area where those three spheres converge.

When the Garmin GPS receives the information from the satellites, it compares both the time that the signal was sent (each satellite has an atomic clock) with the time that the GPS received the signal to calculate the satellite’s current distance. The GPS must pick up the signal from at least three satellites in order to calculate its longitude and latitude. To calculate a 3D location (altitude) the GPS must lock into the signal of a fourth satellite. Once the receiver is able to determine the user’s location, it can calculate the speed that the user is traveling by constantly updating its position with the satellites and calculating the distance the user has traveled and how long it took.

If the user were to input a destination location, the receiver can calculate the distance to destination and time to destination based on the user’s current speed. A receiver can even tell a user when sunrise and sunset will occur in their current location, since receivers such as the Garmin Nuvi are programmed with a database of sunrise and sunset times.

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SOURCE: 100 INVENTIONS THAT SHAPED WORLD HISTORY BY BILL YENNE/ DR. MORTON GROSSER

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RAILWAY ION TRANSPORTATION THEN: LOCOMOTIVESES- 1802 For over a century, steam team locomotives were by far the most important mportant mechanized land vehicles. Thee first steam-powered vehicle was built in n 1769 by Nicolas Cugnot. It was a steam road tractor that appeared only four years ars after James Watt built a practical steam engine.

However, Cugnot’s invention vention was a slow and ponderouss machine and was deemed impractiractical. The first locomotive ve to run on rails was the steam am carriage built in 1802 02

by Richard Trevithick ck at Coalbrookdale in Wales. He tested his new ew machine on February 2, 1804 by running it over a 9-mile track with passengers on board.

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NOW: HIGH-SPEED RAIL OR “BULLET TRAIN” According to a 2016 article from cnn.com, maglev trains (bullet trains) work by using magnets to push the train away from the tracks and drive the train forward. Japan’s maglevs don’t use metal tracks — instead, they float nearly 4 inches above special guideways, allowing for frictionless movement.

Japan Railways has been testing their train to figure out the best operational speed for a planned route between Tokyo and

Nagoya, scheduled to begin service in 2027. That trip can take nearly five hours by car, but in the future a maglev train could finish the journey in 40 minutes.

Right now, China operates the world’s fastest commercial maglev, which hit 268 miles per hour on a route through Shanghai, according to cnn.com. By contrast, the fastest train in the United States, Amtrak’s Acela Express, is only capable of 150 miles per hour, though it usually plods along at half that speed.

LOOKING BACK >> HISTORY OF IMPORTANT INVENTIONS

“I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness — to save oneself trouble.”

ESULTS DRIVEN. Gil Alba

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first demonstrated his telegraph to President Van Buren on February 21, 1838, and by 1843 a workable commercial telegraph line was in place between Washington and Baltimore.

REMOTE COMMUNICATION THEN: THE TELEGRAPH- 1838 Telegraphy is defined as the process of sending a coded message over a long distance by means of electricity. The telegraph is the machine that makes this possible. The term telegraph is derived from a combination of the Greek roots tele meaning “far” and graph meaning “writing.” The sending of coded messages dates back to ancient times. In ancient Greece, Clytemnestra learned of Troy’s defeat by Agamemnon in 1084 10 BC by means of a series of fires built on a distant hillside.

American inventor Samuel A F.B. Morse developed the first practical telegraph system. p Morse also devised the Morse Code, which consisted of a series of taps of a key that made electrical contact. Morse

NOW: TEXT MESSAGING People young and old use text messages for personal, family and social purposes and business. Since the 2010s, the sending of short informal messages has become an accepted part of many cultures. This makes texting a quick and easy way to communicate with friends and colleagues, including in contexts where a phone call would be impolite or inappropriate (e.g., calling very late at night or when one knows the other person is busy with family or work activities).

Like e-mail and voicemail, and unlike landline or mobile phone calls (in which the caller hopes to speak directly with the recipient), texting does not require the caller and recipient to both be free at the same moment; this permits communication even between busy individuals. Text messages can also be used to interact with automated systems, for example, to order products or services from e-commerce websites, or to participate in online contests. Advertisers and service providers use direct text marketing to send messages to mobile phone users about promotions, payment due dates, and other notifications instead of using postal mail, email, or voicemail.

From sundials to Apple Watches and Morse code to text messages, one thing is clear. Humankind seems to be driven in makingg things new and improved. d..

And who can argue with that?

“No amount of skillful invention can replace the essential element of imagination.”

— EDWARD HOPPER

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INVENTION >> SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS

INVENTORS WITH LOCAL TIES

Swamp to Shark Tank STORY A N D PHOTOGR A PH Y BY ER ICK A W INTER ROW D

GAINESVILLE IS NO STRANGER TO BRIGHT IDEAS. MANY WELL-KNOWN INVENTIONS FIRST BEGAN AT THE SWAMP — JUST LOOK AT GATORADE! These two inventors made their way from our town to the tank on ABC’s televison show “Shark Tank.” They even made separate deals with the QVC Queen herself, Lori Greiner. From silent dog tags to beanbag sleepers, Gainesville is a hotbed for innovation and creativity.

SiliDog – Founder and CEO Mikey Lickstein “Don’t lose sleep — or your mind — over your pet’s tag jingling ever again!”

Gator Grad, Mikey Lickstein, has made his alma mater proud, receiving a $100,000 deal with a “shark” for his invention 132 |

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SiliDog — the silent pet tag. The episode first aired last year.

According to SiliDog.com, this brand gained its inspiration from a rescue dog named Bentley in St. Augustine. Bentley was not in the greatest shape when he was rescued. Among other ailments, he had fleas and was continuously scratching. The persistent jingling of his pet tags through all hours of the day and night prompted SiliDog founder and CEO Mikey Lickstein to create a silent pet tag, one that would silence the late-night noise from the scratching, collar-clinking, and water and food bowl clanking. In addition, the tags needed to be durable, comfortable, resilient and attractive.

Thus emerged the first line of products — SiliDogTags, silent pet tags that do not clink or clank when colliding with

metal or plastic objects. Unlike most tags on the market, the color and engraving on SiliDogTags is made out of silicone and will never fade. SiliDog also has a social impact, giving back to nonprofit organizations such as the ASPCA and the Susan G. Komen organization with every sale.

CordaRoy’s – Founder and Inventor Byron Young “When you buy a CordaRoy’s product, you’re getting something that lasts. We don’t believe in disposable beanbags. It feels good to hear from our customers who still enjoy their CordaRoy’s Comfort 15 years later! ... And still loving it.”

By now, it is widely known that Gainesville resident Byron Young, owner of CordaRoy’s and inventor of CordaRoy’s Beanbag beds, has appeared on Shark Tank and even made a coveted business deal with Lori Greiner. His episode premiered back

patented foam-filled Sleepers were first made in a Gainesville garage on 39th Avenue where Young lived during his college years. Back then there was no bed inside of the beanbag.

The CordaRoy’s Sleeper is an idea born out of necessity. One night after attending a Gator football game, Young had some unexpected guests in need of a place to sleep. The sofa was the next best thing but not an ideal option, especially for two people.

Young remembered that the insides of his beanbags were square, and informed his guests that this may be a better alternative.

After throwing together a makeshift bed, the CordaRoy’s Sleeper was born. The next morning his guests were raving about how great it was, and that was the moment he realized the idea for the beanbag sleeper was something special.

The next step was transforming the inner liners, or “big square things,” into actual beds.

And then came the patent, a key part in any invention. Nowadays, the company continues to make improvements to the products every

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in 2013, and since then a lot has happened for the “Beanbag Man,” including the grand opening of his 8,000-square-foot showroom on the corner of West University and NW 34th Street back in 2015.

According to its website, CordaRoy’s

year, striving to make products they can be proud of and will far surpass a customer’s investment.

May The Swamp continue to be a place where imagination and ingenuity take flight!

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EXPERIENCE >> TRAVELING WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY

Unplugged Traveling with Minimal Access to Technology in a World Where Virtual Connections Dominate S TORY A N D PHOTOG R A PHY BY C A MERON COBB

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Gardens by the Bay, centered in the heart of Singapore, introduces a world of environmental attractions. The Flower Dome is a glass greenhouse featuring different floral sections, replicating the climates of multiple continents to showcase a variety of native plant collections.

O

ne of the best parts about traveling is getting to escape reality, and it’s even better when you have nothing tying you to your usual demands of everyday life.

Thankfully, because of the many differences in cell service and providers between locations, cross-continent travel makes for one of the best ways to have the ultimate getaway.

In May, my brother invited me to join him and a few of his friends on a cruise departing from Singapore that was set to sail around Southeast Asia, stopping in three countries new to us all. I quickly accepted the opportunity, especially since

the timing was perfect for me to celebrate the end of spring semester while distracting my mind from the thought of beginning classes again come summer.

All aspects of responsibility would be saved for post-vacation me.

I met up with my brother in Tokyo, and I had decided the moment I left the states I would untangle myself from the wires and remain untethered until I returned to American soil. Royal Caribbean’s “generous” offer of onboard Wi-Fi — complete with the fine-print “nominal” fee of nearly $25 a day for agonizingly slow service — made our decision easy.

Aside from initially having to shrug off the panic of reaching for my phone and realizing it wasn’t there, saying goodbye to social media, email, phone

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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s national capital and largest city, provides a unique mixture of historic and modern buildings and a population of over 1.7 million people. This was our first stop along our journey after departing from Singapore. The city is surrounded by lush greenery, with vegetation laced throughout the town and buildings everywhere blanketed with thick vines.

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calls and texts for over a week was rejuvenating. It really opened my eyes to how reliant we are when it comes to holding a presence online, and it felt nice to take some space and rediscover living in the moment. So other than occasionally bringing the GoPro along, we immersed ourselves in the wonderful (wireless-less) world around us.

Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand all proved to be absolutely lovely in their own ways, and there’s nothing comparable to what’s captured when counting on your good ole trusted five senses. We roamed bustling streets and explored thick, green jungles with our minds fully engaged in our escapades. Our focus was to cover as much territory as possible and our plan was nothing more than the placement of one foot in front of the other. Exhilarating doesn’t even begin to fully describe the experience. On the cruise’s final day, the ship docked in Singapore early morning, and since our flight didn’t depart until almost 24 hours later, it provided some extra time to see more of the country.

The pros of traveling (nearly) technology free were seemingly endless, however, as with all things of life, it wasn’t without a con — and this was a pretty big one.

The stipulation that comes with traveling internationally is you need a passport to leave the U.S. and enter somewhere new. That being said, the same rule applies when exiting your place of visit.

Prior to leaving the U.S. for my trip, I verified that my passport was on my person at least 30 times. However, apparently, adult responsibilities weren’t nearly as important while traveling when I noticed the pocket of my bag housing my passport was unzipped. And empty. After a day of touring the downtown streets of Singapore.

And the gardens. And a fort. And the mall. And about eight different taxis.

We didn’t have time to retrace our steps, as I was not optimistic that our plane’s crew would be so patient as to wait for us. With it now approaching midnight and our flight merely an hour away, I’d be spending some additional time in Singapore — solo. Being a place where caning is still a legal form of punishment and a stick of chewing gum could land you in jail, this wasn’t a place I felt comfortable navigating unaccompanied.

“Don’t stress. I’m sure you just left it in another bag,” my brother was quick to say hoping to prevent me from panicking.

Too late.

From afar, it’s difficult to see that the concrete jungle of Downtown Singapore also houses historical forts, awe-inspiring art displays and more. To the left of the Ferris wheel stands the Marina Bay Sands hotel, where the world’s largest rooftop infinity pool towers over the city, offering sky-rise explorers a one-of-a-kind view.

I never knew how appreciative I could be for small-town life until introduced to the annoyance of hailing taxicabs. After an agonizing wait, followed by the 20-minute ride to the holding area where we had stored our bags for the day, we arrived and began tearing apart every piece of our luggage until the floor was littered by just about everything we had.

Everything except my passport.

My brother bit the bullet and used his phone to call the local police. (And that phone call was the costliest two minutes of our lives — happy early birthday to me!) We reported my missing passport, but the only thing the officers could do was take down my name and the places we had been that day. At a complete loss, we decided the airport would be the next best place to go.

Upon arrival, we connected to the airport’s slow, very, very slow, Wi-Fi, providing just enough of a weak connection to Facebook so I could call my dad. Immediately bursting into tears, I explained what happened and how I’d be assuming a new identity and life in Southeast Asia. Before I could over-dramatically accept that this was the end of everything ever, my dad cut me short and reminded me that there are other people who’ve been just as irresponsible as me (somehow), and that this kind of thing happens all the time. With my dad now on a mission to rescue his hysterical daughter from the opposite side of the world, we felt a bit better having a certified adult on the case, because clearly that wasn’t a title I was ready for myself.

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EXPERIENCE >> TRAVELING WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY

Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand all proved to be absolutely lovely in their own ways, and there’s nothing comparable to what’s captured when counting on your good ole trusted five senses.

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We dejectedly trudged to the station and explained for the umpteenth time to the officers about how my poor attentive skills had rendered me indeterminately an undocumented alien in Singapore. One officer started the paperwork while another made various calls. After about 40 minutes, the officer hung up the phone and appeared behind the desk where we were seated.

“What better time to get your passport back than right after finishing the claim?” he said to us, smiling.

I couldn’t believe it. Someone had found my passport a few hours earlier and turned it in to one of the local stations, a station that happened to be a few blocks down from the luggage storage. But without access to GPS, and avoiding all printed maps throughout my life as if they were written in Greek, my brother and I would have never known we were mere steps away from the most important stamp collection I’ll ever own.

I will be forever grateful for whoever took pity on my passport, terrible photo and all, and decided I had probably suffered enough. A quick ride to that station and my passport was back in my hands (where it wouldn’t dare part for the remainder of the trip). Returning to the airport at about 3:30 a.m., we wasted no time making sure we were the first ones lined up at our gate.

While not yet a funny story, I more than welcomed my brother’s jabs along with my dad’s “I-told-you-so’s.” I would take all the heat in the world about this so long as I was getting it from the reassuring comfort of the departing side of the TSA checkpoint.

The airport’s Wi-Fi was significantly faster near the gate, but we both decided to enjoy our final hours of smartphone separation; soon we’d both be swept back into our technologically centered societies.

Even with all the chaos that might’ve been diminished had those devices been more accessible, the time apart from the constant telecommunication was very much-needed, refreshing and ultimately a transformative experience.

And though I’d vacation without the technology again in a heartbeat, I think it’s safe to say I don’t plan to do the same with 18575 NW 237TH ST, my passport.

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garden, multiple art displays, and much more, but unfortunately for me this extravagance posed as more of an inconvenience, so we just rushed over to the first information booth we could find.

The attendant called the U.S. Embassy’s emergency number where the on-call representative confirmed what I already expected but still hated to hear: I’d be missing my 5:50 a.m. flight, as the Embassy didn’t open until 8:30 a.m.

In a desperate attempt for reassurance, I asked if I could get a temporary passport in time to leave for the next flight available on Tuesday. She didn’t know, but she did remind me that Wednesday was a national holiday, so I could end up staying for the better part of the week. With a half-hearted “good luck” she hung up the phone, and I found myself feeling worse now than before the call. Maybe I should’ve just stuck with my technological hiatus after all. The attendant bid us a far more sincere apology and recommended we go to the airport police station to file a report — the beginning of a mountain of paperwork I’d be filling out in hopes to (eventually) get back home.

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RESEARCH >> UNDERSTANDING HUMAN DNA

CODE BREAKERS

Faculty within the Center for Pharmacogenomics at UF.

UF RESEARCHERS DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING DNA

DNA W R I T T E N B Y B I A N C A FAVA T A | P H O T O G R A P H Y C O U R T E S Y O F L A R I S A C AVA L L A R I & C O N N I E M U L L I G A N

Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is the carrier of genetic information and makes each and every person unique.

People can learn about themselves when they look into genetics, from ancestry to personality type to disease. Although it’s typically a personal choice to look into one’s genetics, there are often insightful discoveries. Doctors, researchers and scientists are using DNA to learn how to improve the lives of people all around the world.

Connie Mulligan, a UF Professor of Anthropology, received her Ph.D. at Yale University. She’s been with the anthropology department for 17 years; she’s also a professor at the UF Genetics Institute.

“I consider myself to be a genetic anthropologist, so I use genetic data to address anthropological questions,” Mulligan said in a recent phone interview.

Her current research projects look at the genetic basis of health. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, they’re looking at violence and trauma of new mothers and how it affects the health of their newborns.

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Connie Mulligan

“We’re looking to see if epigenetics could possibly be the mechanism that translates the maternal trauma into altered health outcomes for the babies,” Mulligan said.

For every research project, study and test that involves genetics, the basis lies in the DNA. “We have a total of six billion bases in our genome that could potentially vary between every person … the reality is we are all over 99 percent identical,” Mulligan said.

About a year ago, she began working on a project with Catherine Panter-Brick, a Yale anthropologist.

RESEARCH >> UNDERSTANDING HUMAN DNA

Dr. Larisa Cavallari is the Director of the Center for Pharmacogenomics at UF and Associate Director of the UF Health Personalized Medicine Program.

the team tests these measures again to see if any refugees have improved because of the intervention.

Mulligan is looking to see what genetic variants make a person more environmentally sensitive.

“My part is to look at the genetic basis,” Mulligan said. She is looking to see what genetic variants make a person more environmentally sensitive.

“So while that might mean that someone suffers more when something bad happens to them, then the prediction is that they also respond more positively when something good happens to them,” she said.

So far, there has been one variant found: Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), or the warrior gene. Its effect is strongest in males.

Typically, if a male has the warrior gene, and if they’ve “experienced some sort of childhood adversity, like neglect or abuse, they are at increased risk for aggressiveness and antisocial behavior as an adult,” Mulligan said.

From their findings, they hope to improve the lives of refugees and help them to become functioning members of society as quickly as possible. Learning about genetic variants will improve the intervention so that it can help refugees on a personal basis — a basis that stems from DNA. Genetic variation can also be used to learn more about one’s ancestry.

“People from all continents, all countries, all races, all have the same genome, but we have different frequencies of specific genetic variants,” Mulligan said.

“We have a total of six billion bases in our genome that could potentially vary between every person… the reality is we are all over 99 percent identical.”

“We’re looking at the genetics of risk and resilience in Syrian refugee youth who fled to Jordan,” she said.

They are studying how the refugees’ genetics affect their response to traumatic exposures and the outcome measures of stress, anxiety and cognitive behavior. Simply put, the project focuses on how different genetic variants will influence how someone responds to trauma.

There’s a team in Jordan that collects DNA samples.

“They take a little swab and rub the inside of their cheek, and what we call ‘buccal cells’ come off. My lab extracts DNA from the samples,” Mulligan said.

The second part involves many interviews of the children, ages 12-18. These questionnaires collect information about their exposure to trauma. Questions include: Have you seen a family member killed? Or have you experienced violence personally?

Then, the team asks them questions that investigate their level of anxiety, their level of security, and so on. These refugees then participate in an intervention program, which is designed to help them cope with all they’ve been through. After the program,

The genetic variants that distinguish different populations of people are called ancestry informative markers, or AIMs. These variants have large differences in frequency between regions and countries.

“The broadest category is Europe, Africa and Asia,” Mulligan said. “We’d look for large differences in frequency between those broad areas.”

It can also be very specific, focusing on different countries.

“When you have thousands of these markers, then you can come up with estimates of your genetic background,” she said.

Ancestry.com and 23andMe are services that help people learn more about their genetic makeup, from where they come from to their risk for disease.

Mulligan said 23andMe is “very accurate. They do a great job.”

People need to take into consideration that it’s all based on estimates — there will always be percentages of uncertainty.

“That’s not a bad thing,” she said. “Uncertainty is inherent to research where we are constantly learning new things.”

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Connie Mulligan and grad student Nikki Rodney creating the Molecular Genetics Lab at HEAL Africa Hospital, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There’s a definite amount of uncertainty with diseases, because it’s extremely hard to test for something with unknown variants.

There are two types of disease: simple or complex. For simple diseases, there is one gene. The inheritance is very well defined in simple diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, for instance. There is a specific variant in the gene that causes the disease, so one can be very certain about that.

“But complex diseases have multiple genetic variants and environmental variants,” Mulligan said. “Complex diseases are cancers, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and all mental health disorders. You can have a genetic risk to inherit a certain type of disease, but that’s only one part of the total picture of risk.”

Many other factors, such as family history and health habits, come into play. Knowing one’s genetics is just one small part of the entire picture.

Today, medical doctors are able to apply what has been tested with genetics for personalized medicine, which improves the health of their patients.

Dr. Larisa Cavallari is the Associate Professor & Director for the Center for Pharmacogenomics at UF. “We’re actually implementing genetic testing for patients here at UF Health to help direct their drug therapy,” she said in a recent phone interview.

Pharmacogenetics is the “association between genetic variants and drug response,” Cavallari said.

They can predict if the patient will have a positive or negative response to the medicine, based on the patient’s genetic makeup.

“We can genotype for several different gene drug pairs, and that genotype information helps to determine whether that person is at increased risk for having an adverse effect to the drug,” Cavallari said. “From that test result we can make recommendations to the physician.”

Samples are collected using blood work or a buccal cell sample from the patient’s cheek. They look at genes that encode for proteins. These proteins work with how the drug is metabolized.

The proteins “either break the drug down to an inactive form, or in some cases, the protein activates the drug,” Cavallari said.

“If someone inherits a deficiency in that protein and they can’t activate the drug, it’s not going to work.”

For example, codeine is a medicine commonly used for pain.

By itself, codeine is very weak. It has little to no effect in the OUR TOWN MAGAZINE

JULY/AUGUST 2017

body without a protein to activate it. When activated, codeine becomes morphine. If someone doesn’t have the protein to activate codeine, it will not become morphine and it will not help that person manage pain.

In contrast, the exact opposite can occur.

“Some people have a protein that works better in them than in most people, so it’s sort of a super-active protein,” Cavallari said. “In that case, they could rapidly turn codeine into morphine and it could lead to toxicity and even increased risk of death.”

It is very important to learn about genetics for medicine, which “helps decide whether that drug will be safe and effective,” she said.

Genetic testing started at UF in 2012 and is one factor physicians use to recommend medicine. Other factors are important as well, such as a person’s age, body size, or kidney and liver function.

Pharmacogenetics at UF is looking at patient outcomes.

While this testing hasn’t become mainstream, Cavallari hopes it will be in the future. The number of drugs tested is growing slowly, and Pharmacogenetics at UF is working with about seven different institutions, including Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando and Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.

Genetic testing has improved patient outcomes. When patients with angioplasty (who didn’t respond well to usual therapy), “switched to a different drug or [were] treated with a different drug, we actually had a reduction in the risk of heart attack, death and stroke, compared to people who had the deficiency and still got the [original] drug,” she said.

Cavallari said it is rewarding to see the results. In the future, she thinks people will be tested for a panel of genes before they even need medicine, whether they are healthy or maybe when they’re first admitted to the hospital with an illness. The information could then be used throughout the patient’s care, and it will be more proactive than reactive.

“The information of their genetic makeup will go in the person’s medical record, and then, throughout the rest of that person’s care, the doctor can look at the genotype when he or she prescribes a drug to see how that affects the drug that’s prescribed,” Cavallari said.

The future is bright and full of promise for many people.

Whether they are a patient in the hospital, a refugee, or even someone just wanting to learn about their roots, DNA research is improving lives.

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COLUMN

DONNA BONNELL’S

Embracing Life EMBRACING SUCCESS & VALUE – BEHIND THE SCENES

DONNA BONNELL BECAME THE AUTHOR OF HER COLUMN, EMBRACING LIFE, MORE THAN A DECADE AGO. SHE SHARES HER PERSONAL CHALLENGES AND VICTORIES WITH THE GOAL OF INSPIRING HER READERS TO ANALYZE WHY THINGS HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. bonneldj@gmail.com

ALBERT EINSTEIN SAID, “STRIVE NOT TO BE A SUCCESS, BUT RATHER TO BE OF VALUE.”

W

e all have individual definitions of success and value, especially in our professional realms. Folks who strategically pursue six-figure incomes consider them synonyms (which are great goals — for them). Attainment of a powerful lucrative position was never my objective. Therefore, I deemed success and value as independent aspirations. To determine how to fulfill my meanings of those goals, I explored other job options.

Early in life, I discovered serving on an administrative team was my niche. Self-satisfaction came from the work itself, especially when it produced positive results. My office utopia was excelling as a vital invisible entity.

For four decades I was devoted to silently supporting superiors.

Management respected my role and recognized my enthusiasm.

God knew too. That was all that mattered. In return, I was blessed to stand beside admirable administrators with solid honorable goals.

While working for top management had inherent diplomatic challenges, my faith held steadfast. I believed that honesty and a strong work ethic would always prevail. Apparently, I missed the spiritual lessons in self-defense, self-promotion and self-worth.

So, the Universe created a perfect storm of events to prove my theory wrong and provide a crash course in self-preservation.

Political turbulence and ardent disagreements amongst administrators created widespread workplace turmoil. Alas, I was innocently caught in the crossfire and lost my beloved job.

After processing grave unexpected loss and feelings of grief, my quest began to understand this unjustifiable decision. Consumed with confusion, I begged for clarification. My personnel file was filled with glowing accolades and appraisals, void of anything negative. Bewilderment and disbelief, based on lack of any logical explanation, ensued my being.

What was I missing? This divine intervention had my full attention and I sought answers. Coincidentally (perhaps), communications were received on two consecutive weekends.

The first facilitation occurred when a small window of opportunity to see a movie presented itself. A decision to watch “Hidden Figures” was based on the time it aired. The next weekend, 144 |

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because of inclement weather, we decided that attending the play, “Matilda” would be a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

“Hidden Figures” is based on a true story about the three African-American pioneer women. Working behind-the-scenes as human computers in the launching of space exploration, they battled discrimination on many levels.

They are all my heroes, but my favorite quote was from Katherine Johnson. Johnson was working on John Glenn’s mission and crucial flight data was rapidly changing. She asked to participate in an editorial meeting. Initially, engineer Paul Stafford refused. It was against protocol for women to attend briefings. Her defense led to a procedural change when Johnson responded: “There’s no protocol for man circling Earth either, sir.”

Mary Jackson’s superior encouraged her to become an engineer.

To accomplish that goal, she needed to take graduate courses at a segregated night school. Jackson petitioned the City of Hampton for the right to attend. She won and finished her degree.

Those ladies illustrated how we are responsible for tooting our own horns and fighting for our rights — my missing links.

Sometimes just doing our jobs, albeit outstanding, is inadequate.

I was still stuck on the lack of fairness in my current situation.

Magically (maybe), “Matilda” materialized.

“Matilda” is a play about an extraordinary girl who stood up for herself against abusive adults and formed her own future. My clarity came in the lyrics of one of the musical’s songs, “Naughty.”

“Just because you find that life’s not fair, it doesn’t mean that you just have to grin and bear it. If you always take it on the chin and wear it, nothing will change.

“Even if you’re little you can do a lot, … If you sit around and let them get on top, you might as well be saying you think that it’s OK …”

I was meant to experience “Hidden Figures” and “Matilda.”

The proverbial light bulb lit brightly when I realized how naïve I was in trusting everyone to do the right thing. While I am satisfied with my success working for outstanding leaders behind-the-scenes, this lesson was a reminder to place value on my self-worth. It is OK to promote my talents, without being boastful. Furthermore, defending myself when treated unfairly is a necessity. Otherwise others will believe their exploitation is acceptable … And that’s not right.

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