Category Archives: November-December 2021

CMC Soft Reopening

by Joe Courter

We tried back in August entertaining the notion of slowly reopening the Civic Media Center as a public space, but then Delta showed up and we went back into our shell, with just Free Grocery Store, Books for Prisoners, bi-weekly volunteer meetings and occasional other meetings. 

But recently the collections committee has resumed meeting, and of course we had our anniversary program Oct. 18 with an intentionally small in-person audience of volunteers for Sandra Parks and the “Stetson Kennedy, A Life of Purpose” program. That was streamed on Zoom and Facebook, and can still be seen on the CMC Facebook page.

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Spotlight on … Florida Coalition for Peace and Social Justice

The Florida Coalition for Peace and Social Justice provides space for meetings, retreats, workshops, camps, and educational activities that promote peace, human rights and social justice awareness, conflict resolution, self-empowerment programs and environmental discovery and awareness. 

The organization was founded in 1982 in Orlando, and the Geiger family donated land located in Bradford County in the 1990s to serve as a meeting facility for peace activism and youth. 

The land serves as a location for meetings, demonstrations, workshops, and retreats sponsored by the Coalition including annual summer peace camps for youth and young adults. 

The Coalition’s annual meeting will take place on Nov. 13 at 10am at 10665 SW 89th Ave., Hampton, FL, 32044. 

For more information, visit florida4peace.org or call 352-603-3680.

Dr. Paul Ortiz to speak at Sunday Assembly

Dr. Paul Ortiz, director of the award-winning Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, will be the guest speaker at Sunday Assembly, on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 11am.

The title of his talk will be “Defending History: The Struggle to Tell Historical Truths in the United States.” 

The event will be held at the Pride Center in the Liberty Center, 3131 NW 13th Street, Gainesville. 

Masks are required for those not fully vaccinated. 

For more info, contact: SundayAssembly32601@gmail.com.

History and the people who make it: Ilena Rotundo Camilo

Ilena Rotundo Camilo [C], the Founding Mother of Gamma Eta Sorority, Incorporated, who worked on creating a more inclusive and diverse community on the University of Florida Campus and beyond, was interviewed by an unknown interviewer [U] on July 15, 2018. The sorority was founded in1995.

Transcript edited by Donovan Carter. 

This is an excerpt from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program – Latinx Diaspora of the Americas Project (LDAP) Collection, and the 69th in a series from the SPOHP collection.

U: What gave you the idea to create a sorority on campus? 

C: Well, at the time, the Hispanic population was not as noticeable at the university. I heard over and over that all the Latina girls want to try to fit in somewhere, but it was a bit difficult, and because it was something new and there were more of us than there were before, people weren’t as welcoming as all the other ladies. There wasn’t anything where Hispanic women would fit in. 

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Free First Saturday at Appleton Museum of Art

Date: December 4
Time: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Location: 4333 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala
Admission: Free on the first Saturday of each month

Practice the art of staycation and visit our permanent collection and special exhibitions. Or, make art in the Artspace and enjoy our beautiful outdoor spaces with large-scale sculpture (perfect for selfies!).

Big Lee’s BBQ food truck will be onsite for lunch 11am-2 pm. 

Signs of the times: Plaques acknowledge Gainesville’s troubling past

by Joe Courter

Gainesville is the only city in Florida to drop Columbus Day in favor of honoring Indigenous Peoples Day. A plaque was installed in the city hall square with the following words:

We remember them with compassion
Naebahiono manta nahiabotanicano

Gainesville is part of the traditional homelands of the Potano people, a Timucua-speaking society. The Timucua people lived here since time immemorial. 

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The Wilder Heart of Florida: Conservation conversations with authors

As part of Alachua Conservation Trust’s Keep Florida Wild Virtual Series, we invite you to join us on Nov. 18 from 6 to 7:30pm for an engaging presentation on conservation and literature. 

During this webinar, we will hear from the authors and editors of The Wilder Heart of Florida

Following the presentation, there will be a question and answer session with our speakers. Speakers include Gianna Russo, Margaret Ross Tolbert, Leslie Poole, and Jack E. Davis.

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New petition seeks to save Maguire/University Village South, asks to reinvest, not replace historic graduate housing villages

by the Save Maguire/UVS Team

UF is still trying to bulldoze our homes, but we are not giving up!

Since October, a new online petition has called for the permanent protection of the 348 affordable apartment units of UVS/Maguire Village Graduate and Family Housing at the University of Florida, as UF seeks to demolish them in 2023. (Go to www.change.org/SaveUFGradHousing.)

For a couple years, UF has falsely claimed that these homes have no value or are becoming worn out, but nothing could be further from the truth. 

These desirable, peaceful, culturally diverse communities and the 27 acres of trees and serene nature are one of UF’s greatest assets. Protecting these family-friendly villages and incredible green spaces for future generations of Gators is in the best interest of the university and the graduate students who will utilize them for years to come.

Specifically, the petition asks that UF:

1. Immediately reverse the decision to close Maguire/UVS.

2. Open up all apartments there to new residents, investing as necessary to make all units fully safe and habitable.

3. Provide all non-disclosed documents related to the premature closure decision, and conduct a transparent third-party public appraisal to determine their long-term viability and the investment needed to maintain these treasured buildings.

4. Investigate campus housing policies and staff for misrepresentation of facts, which led to the hastily made closure decision, to ensure this never happens again.

According to residents, these are the best apartments in Florida and deserve saving, so it is shameful to think that UF would completely demolish both villages, removing almost 40 percent of all graduate housing without any public (and graduate student) input, but that is indeed the case—but there is still hope.

The UF Board of Trustees, and subcommittees that help make recommendations to them, can still reverse the decision by a simple vote (as they did with the McCarty Woods amendment to the Campus Master Plan in June 2021). This is our immediate request, because the longer they wait, the more stress it puts on students currently living there, and those hoping to move in.

Likewise, the City of Gainesville and Alachua County commissions have a say in the final approval of the updated Campus Development Agreement (CDA) with UF (which includes the revised maps that put Maguire/UVS on the chopping block), so we ask that these bodies DO NOT APPROVE IT without first requiring the removal of that section. 

Even asking that UF make grad housing a “priority” is not enough, and actually detrimental, because it gives UF cover to continue with their plans to replace our homes with alternatives that are not wanted. 

There is no harm if these commissions simply postpone their final vote until UF complies, because the existing CDA will simply remain in effect. UF has yet to produce a shred of evidence that these changes are absolutely necessary, and in some cases, has outright lied.

It is unclear when it started, but UF has kept many would-be residents from moving in for a couple years, despite the units being safe, clean, and recently renovated. Furthermore, UF Housing leadership has refused to respond to legitimate inquiries into their decision making, and never considered the opinions of graduate students when promoting the closure of these villages (slated for Spring 2023). 

These administrators have repeatedly misrepresented facts regarding the quality and benefit of these units, and never fully produced any credible evidence for their closure at this time. 

In this way, the people who should be looking out for the well-being of students and advocating against closing our campus housing options are instead fighting against the students who most need protecting. 

These pompous administrators have chosen to shirk their responsibilities, causing harm to vulnerable students, and because of that, we demand an investigation into their actions and that those responsible be fired.

Furthermore, the two main reasons given for the destruction of these buildings are both flawed, namely:  (1) that they are not economically feasible to maintain, and (2) that putting empty recreation fields in their place will somehow “improve the student experience.”

The second flawed point is easily rebuffed by noting that the UF body representing ALL students (undergrads and grad students, totaling more than 50,000 people) unanimously passed a resolution decrying the destruction of these villages in 2021. Indeed, students see more value in keeping these as homes than in adding a couple more soccer fields (in an area already full of other fields).

No detailed evidence has been provided to justify the first flawed point either, despite numerous inquiries. 

As a place of rigorous academic standards, we are asking simply for the housing administration to “show their work.” 

In the absence of proof, they have failed the University’s students, staff, faculty, and governing bodies, and should be held accountable. And even if it is shown that it will cost some amount of money to maintain these buildings, we ask that UF make that investment, as is being done with numerous other campus buildings, including new undergraduate dorms.

If UF wishes to attract and maintain top talent, they need to consider undergraduate and graduate students alike. Destroying almost half of grad housing while spending hundreds of millions on new undergrad housing is not a balanced approach.

We would be remiss if we did not also mention that the carbon footprint of the decision to destroy 44 apartment buildings and hundreds of trees would be immense, and could be reason in and of itself to save this ecologically important area.

These spacious villages with large patios and balconies provide a needed respite for graduate students, and we demand they be saved. In no instance should the entire natural area be cleared of all trees, nor should the value or history of these buildings be considered interchangeable with off-campus living. 

These are not just buildings, but homes, and if they are lost, a big part of UF’s culture will be lost, as hundreds of families’ lives will be disrupted immediately, and thousands of hearts of former residents broken. 

Please help save Maguire/UVS. There is no substitute. 

To learn more about the organization behind the petition and this article, visit www.SaveUFGradHousing.com or email saveufgradhousing@gmail.com.

UF SG fall elections: Challenging the entrenched system

by Alfredo Ortiz

When people hear news about the University of Florida’s Student Government (SG), they usually dismiss it as yet another example of pervasive inactivity and corruption. Very few students are inspired to participate in SG because students are generally uninformed of the power that SG holds at the local, state, and national levels. 

However, not everyone fails to recognize SG’s influence. For decades, a coalition of fraternities and sororities have used SG as a launchboard for their political careers. The most recent of these examples was the use of student funds to finance a Trump re-election event after the Student Body President’s father had maxed out contributions to Trump’s campaign, which we protested vigorously.

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Healthcare navigators provide open enrollment assistance to North Central Florida residents

Residents of North Central Florida are again able to get health insurance from the federal Health Insurance Marketplace and can start signing up now for insurance plans that can begin as soon as Jan. 1.

Open enrollment began nationwide on Nov. 1 and continues until Saturday, Jan. 15. For those needing coverage beginning Jan. 1, consumers must enroll by Wednesday, Dec. 15. 

Healthcare Navigators are a group of nationally recognized health professionals that assist consumers in gaining healthcare coverage. These services are offered at no cost to consumers.

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Veterans for Peace Winter Solstice Concert

Saturday, Dec. 18, at 8:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Doors open at 6:30, limited seating, vaccination proof required

Tickets available through Veterans for Peace and McIntyre Stained Glass Studio

Environmental book club comes to Gainesville in January

by David Vaina

Our Santa Fe River is organizing an environmental book club for concerned citizens in the north Florida community. 

The thrust of the book club is to bring together people of all ages who have a diverse range of interests in both local and global environmental issues, most notably climate change and climate justice; water pollution and access; race, class, gender and its intersection with the environment; environmental justice and the city; rights to nature; sustainable agriculture; protest and community praxis; and more.  

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Hey Gainesville! Enforce your housing discrimination ordinance

by Renz Torres, Alachua County Labor Coalition

“They sent us a collection letter for $16,000,” said A, one Collier tenant. She is being sued for $16,000 in damages after Collier stopped accepting COVID-related housing assistance.

“Your staycation is over,” said a property manager to K, another Collier tenant. She was served a lease non-renewal because her property manager received her ERAP funds late.

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From the publisher … Unraveling illusions

by Joe Courter

Now I do not intend to go all matrix-ie here, I want to stay out of the shadows and the speculative, but address real issues, because these are challenging times, and shining a light is both necessary and can be uncomfortable. 

What first caught my attention was a BBC interview I heard early in the morning on Oct. 29 with youth activists at the COP 26 conference. A young woman used the phrase “fantasy present,” referring to the ignoring of science and the illusion that there are actually steps being taken to solve the climate crisis. Or in Greta’s words, “Blah, blah, blah.” Corporations knew they were doing damage, but hid it, and so much time was lost by their creating this illusion. Politicians made pronouncements and promises that were not fulfilled.

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Gainesville City Commission at-large seat election, Nov. 16

by Joe Courter

On Tuesday, Nov. 16, the special election to fill Gail Johnson’s at-large City Commission seat will take place.

Early voting will be on Friday, Nov. 12, through Sunday, Nov. 14, from 9am to 6pm at the elections office (515 N. Main St.) and at the Millhopper Branch Library (3145 NW 43rd St.). On Election Day, vote at your precinct. 

All registered voters in the city of Gainesville are eligible to vote. 

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Take action: Demand UF lead and not COP out

by David Hastings

As world leaders gather in Glasgow for COP-26, the UN climate summit, the challenges they face are huge. The outcome will to a large extent determine how we will survive on a hotter planet and whether even worse levels of warming can be averted.

Here in North Central Florida, we are witnessing our own climate drama at one of our most respected educational institutions, the University of Florida. UF recognizes its mission to educate, inform and be a good global citizen.

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November-December 2021 Gainesville Iguana

The November-December issue of the Iguana is now available, and you can access it here! If you want to get your hands on a hard copy, check out our distro locations here.