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VOLUME 116 ISSUE 36
MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2022
Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
Students, residents reflect on gun violence epidemic SHOOTING SURVIVORS RECOUNT FRUSTRATIONS, QUESTION LEGISLATIVE ACTION
By Carissa Allen & Omar Ateyah Alligator Staff Writers
Cariss Allen // Alligator Staff
About 50 people march from Westside Church of God in Christ to Maude Lewis Park to protest gun violence and honor victims during the We Wear Orange campaign June 4, 2022.
Student Government Senate incorrectly identifies Texas school shooting victims The resolution required an amendment to fix missing ages, misspelled names and wrong dates By Sandra McDonald Alligator Staff Writer
UF Student Government Senate proposed a resolution honoring the 21 lives lost at the Texas elementary school shooting that incorrectly identified the date of the tragedy and the victims’ names. Four names were spelled incorrectly, one victim’s first name was missing in favor of a nickname and 13 middle names, nicknames and suffixes were missing from the initial document. Deputy Minority Party Leader Mohammed Faisal and CLAS Senator Gabriela Montes, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting survivor, authored an amendment correcting the errors. “When I see something on a document that is meant to honor these lives and memorialize these lives and it appears to be done within the span of just a few minutes, it upsets me,” Montes said. “Because I know there is no document that can undo what has been done to these families.” Montes said the resolution felt rushed. It cited an article with incorrect informa-
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT SEC football meetings held in Destin
Story description finish with comma, pg# Billy Napier and Scott Stricklin represented Florida as conference discussed NIL, the sport’s future. Read more on pg. 11
tion about the victims and did not match the quality demanded of SG legislation, she said.
“We care that these resolutions be the last of their kind. I love the intent with which this was done. The execution was absolutely lacking.”
-Sen. Gabriela Montes
Senate Pro-Tempore Olivia Green and Senate President Elizabeth Hartzog authored the legislation. Green said Wednesday the errors in the resolution were clerical. Senators voted on the amendment Tuesday, correcting the errors and adding information about the nationwide March for Our Lives event June 11. It also promoted local mental health resources in light of the Uvalde gunman’s mental health issues. The Judiciary committee, which reviews all proposed legislation, edited the document to say the Robb Elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, happened on May 24, not May 25, before it
approved the resolution for Senate consideration Sunday. The uncorrected resolution passed by the committee was still on the SG website as of Sunday night. Three other resolutions were passed Tuesday; one recognizing LGBTQ Pride Month, one recognizing the end of Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage month in May and an endorsement of a potential Reitz Union parking garage digital tracker. Senate approved Joshua Zalkan as the executive Student Honor Code Administration Chairman and elected its new Member-at-Large, Senator Jacey Cable, who will serve on the Replacement & Agenda Committee. Senate also authorized a special request for a carryover of funds to the next fiscal year due to construction delays. The next Senate meeting will be held in the Reitz Union Senate Chambers June 7 at 7 p.m. @sn_mcdonald smcdonald@alligator.org
East side sports complex continues Commissioners will evaluate practicality and profitability of planned upgrades, pg. 5
As tragedy after tragedy saturates the media, Giancarlo Rodriguez finds himself numb to gun violence — a scary confession, he admits. The normalization started when Rodriguez, a 20-year-old UF anthropology junior, witnessed Orlando mourn after the Pulse nightclub shooting June 12, 2016. He said it was an attack on his people: his hometown peers and the LGBTQ community. The Pulse shooting, which killed 49 people and injured 68, remains the second deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in modern U.S. history, but the devastation and mourning Rodriguez felt six years ago became cyclic. His frustration grows with every shooting, he said. Seventeen lives lost in Parkland in 2018. Ten lives in Buffalo last month. Twenty-one lives in Uvalde two weeks ago. Three lives in Philadelphia Saturday night. “You see all this stuff happening and then the people in charge and in government do the bare minimum or don't do anything at all to solve these problems,” he said. “It’s just unacceptable. We as Floridians and Americans, we should not accept that.” Gabriela Montes didn’t understand the reality of gun violence in America until police shattered her Marjory Stoneman Douglas classroom door on Valentine’s Day four years ago. She didn’t realize it was more than a routine active shooter drill until 17 people — including three of her friends — were dead. Students returned to class at the Parkland high school weeks later, but the nation’s grief persisted, surging after each mass shooting that ensued. After the massacre, Florida legislature passed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which outlined reforms to make schools safer and restricted firearms from people who are younger than 21 or mentally ill. It has revisited the subject every year since 2018. Florida ranks No. 4 nationwide in school shootings with 74 incidents since 1970. Former Gov. Rick Scott signed a law banning bump stocks — the rifle attachment allowing gunmen to quickly fire bullets — expanding background checks and imposing a threeday waiting period between the purchase and delivery of a firearm. “While it is unfair to say for certain,” Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry, wrote in an email, “It is quite possible that had Texas implemented our policies wholesale, the tragedy in Uvalde could have been averted or, in the very least,
SEE GUN VIOLENCE, PAGE 6
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UF researchers develop ability to track species without physical interaction, pg. 4
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