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VOLUME 116 ISSUE 32
MONDAY, MAY 9, 2022
Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville to restrict public drinking CITY COMMISSION VOTED TO REINSTATE PRE-PANDEMIC OPEN CONTAINER LAW AFTER GPD EXPRESSED SAFETY CONCERNS
By Mickenzie Hannon Alligator Staff Writer
More than 100 protesters stand outside a downtown Gainesville courthouse on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. They gathered to support abortion rights after reports the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade. Read more on page 5. Yingquan Zhu // Alligator Staff
Presidential search continues, graduate students wary The Student Body President is the only student on the Search Advisory Committee By Anushka Dakshit Alligator Staff Writer
The search for UF’s next president has begun, and graduate students remain frustrated they are not represented on the Presidential Search committee. UF students and faculty received an email from the university detailing the search Tuesday. The Search Advisory Committee will host an open forum meeting May 10 to discuss questions and concerns. Some students are already unsatisfied. Paul Wassel, president of the Graduate Student Council and UF PhD student in the genetics and genomic program, disagrees with the current structure of the committee and was disappointed graduate students weren’t represented. He wants a student on the panel who understands graduate students’ experiences. Student Body President Lauren Lemasters is the only student on the presidential search committee. She finished her undergraduate education in Spring and has begun pursuing a masters
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT
UF baseball sweeps State Story description finish Mississippi with comma, pg# Gators notch first SEC sweep of the year with Sunday’s 6-2 victory. Read more on page 11.
degree this Summer. “One student representing 50,000 students on one of the most important searches the university has seen since we hired President Fuchs is kind of shocking, to be honest,” Wassel said. The Presidential Search Committee for UF’s 12th president, which resulted in President Kent Fuchs’ appointment, had similar representation. Christina Bonariggo, a former UF student body president, represented students on the committee. Wassel thinks it will be hard for Lemasters to provide a graduate student perspective with only undergraduate experience, he said. “I work in a lab, I make a salary, I'm paid by the University and I'm not even taking classes anymore,” Wassel said. “So my priorities are very different than an undergraduate student who's living on loans maybe and who doesn't have a family.” Other than underrepresentation in decision-making bodies at the university, graduate students have faced
unpaid wages, unsustainable stipends and exclusion from decision-making concerning graduate housing. Bryn Taylor, the communications chair for Graduate Students United and a thirdyear PhD rehabilitation science student, said GAU expressed concerns about representation before the presidential search committee was chosen. Graduate students are vital to research, she said. The university spent a record $960 million in 2021 on research. Rachel Hartnett, the co-president of GSU, sent a letter to the Board of Trustees April 18 demanding it appoints a graduate student. “We deserve a seat at the table,” she wrote. The university directed GSU to voice their concerns during Tuesday’s 45-minute listening session, Taylor said. “We are committed to a process that is inclusive and reflects input from across the Gator Nation,” Rahul Patel, the chair of the Presidential Search Committee,
Gainesville residents may no longer be allowed to carry alcoholic beverages on public property. City Commissioners voted 4-3 Thursday to repeal the open container policy that allowed people to drink and carry alcoholic beverages in public. The ordinance also permitted businesses to serve alcohol in public, outdoor spaces. Commissioners first voted to allow open containers in September 2020, permitting struggling businesses to adapt to CDC guidelines and survive the pandemic. Thursday’s decision, which has not yet gone into effect and will be revisited in coming months, followed Gainesville Police Department’s quarterly briefing highlighting safety concerns after a recent shooting in a downtown parking garage. Police Chief Lonnie Scott said about 48% of national homicide cases involved alcohol and Gainesville’s violence crimes have been above projected trend lines since 2020. He shared body camera footage of fights in Midtown and downtown. The parking garage, located at 105 SW 3rd St., has become a magnet for large crowds to drink and incite violence, he said. Laila Fakhoury, a co-owner of How Bazar, a vintage retail store located on the first floor of the Southwest Downtown Garageparking garage, saw the victim of the May 1 shooting get pulled out of the garage.
“I think that our voices need to be heard in terms of open container laws, especially because of how they affect and impact our businesses,” she said. At the meeting, Fakhoury suggested restricting drinking and installing lighting and security cameras in the garage. Scott says city visitors come to
SEE PRESIDENT, PAGE 6
Road closure creates commuting concerns
Road closure at intersection of Museum Road and Gale Lemerand Drive creates commuting concerns, pg. 2
SEE OPEN CONTAINER, PAGE 4
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New sports complexes
Residents celebrate final beam in Celebration Pointe sports complex construction, East Gainesville weighs similar proposal, pg. 8
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