News - The Independent Florida Alligator

Leonardo Villalon, Dean of UF’s International Center, speaks at the vigil. He said the only antidote to terror is coming together in solidarity despite cultural and religious differences.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Trying to understand: Vigil held for Paris, Beirut

By Martin Vassolo | Nov. 16, 2015

It began with the American national anthem.

UF Student Body President Joselin Padron-Rasines gives the 2015 State of the Campus Address on Nov. 16, 2015.

NEWS | CAMPUS

SG executives donate salaries to scholarship

By Caitlin Ostroff | Nov. 16, 2015

For the first time, the UF Student Body president wasn’t speaking solo at the State of the Campus Address.

To raise awareness of the 793 million undernourished people around the world, UF Children Beyond Our Borders members, from left, Madeline Bieda, Gabriela Garcia, Manuela Gutierrez and Alexa Moore challenge students Nov. 16, 2015, on Plaza of the Americas to go a day with only a cup of rice and water. “The power of education breaks the cycle of social injustice,” said Bieda, a 21-year-old psychology senior.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF club challenges students to only eat rice for a day

By Katelyn Vogt | Nov. 16, 2015

Nathalie Perez planned to eat only a cup of white rice Monday.

NEWS | CAMPUS

‘Parks and Recreation’ writer to make UF laugh

By Esther Khoudari | Nov. 16, 2015

UF students will laugh with one of the brains behind "Modern Family," "Parks and Recreation" and "Master of None" on Friday night.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF education professor receives record number of grants

By Alexandra Fernandez | Nov. 16, 2015

Pasha Antonenko has an extra $4.5 million in grants for his research.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Research Roundup 11/17/2015

Nov. 16, 2015

UF doctoral candidate finds freedom of speech restricted in schools

NEWS | SFC

Santa Fe College to discuss limiting e-cigarettes

By Hunter Williamson | Nov. 16, 2015

Electronic cigarette usage could soon be restricted on Santa Fe College’s campus.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF celebrates, remembers trans community

By Jenna Kline | Nov. 16, 2015

This week, UF students will celebrate the transgender community while remembering those who lost their lives due to hate crimes.

NEWS | CAMPUS

C-SPAN bus visits UF campus

By Caitlin Ostroff | Nov. 16, 2015

C-SPAN, a channel that broadcasts politics live, will appear at UF today as part of its first tour of Florida universities.

Thousands of people attended a memorial service at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Nov. 15, 2015. Children sat on their parents' shoulders and old ladies stood outside the church, watching the service live-streamed on their phones. "It was a very impactful moment," said Pedro Perez, a 20-year-old UF history and political science junior studying abroad in France, who took the photo.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Students reflect on ISIS attacks

By Martin Vassolo | Nov. 15, 2015

As the brass bells of Century Tower chimed Saturday, Timothee Deschamps wept for his country.

Biswas Rijal, right, a UF materials science graduate student, was cajoled into doing a traditional dance from North India called bhangra in front of about 600 people celebrating Diwali at the India Cultural and Education Center on Nov. 14, 2015. He pulled his friend, Gaurav Sultania, left, a UF civil engineering graduate student, onstage with him so he wouldn't have to perform alone.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Students dance to celebrate good over evil

By Gabrielle Newman | Nov. 15, 2015

UF students twirled their hands, stomped their feet and swiveled their hips Saturday night at the India Cultural and Education Center.

A sinkhole, about 18 feet deep, opened near the main entrance of UF Health Shands Hospital on Nov. 15, 2015.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Sinkhole opens in front of UF Health Shands Hospital

By Giuseppe Sabella | Nov. 15, 2015

A sinkhole opened in the grass about 100 feet from the main entrance of UF Health Shands Hospital on Sunday morning.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Journalism college gets $1 million for investigative program

By Alexandra Fernandez | Nov. 15, 2015

Lee Wetherington didn’t go to UF, but he’s a Gator fan.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF professor finds Ebola vaccine effective

By Spencer Harvey | Nov. 15, 2015

Since Fall 2014, Ira Longini has worked with the World Health Organization to design a clinical trial for an Ebola vaccine. This term, he found his Ebola vaccine was 100 percent effective.

UF defensive back Quincy Wilson (6) celebrates after catching an interception in the waning seconds of Florida's 24-14 win against South Carolina on Nov. 14, 2015, at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

NEWS | CAMPUS

'EVERY GAME IS A PLAYOFF GAME': Florida downs South Carolina, finishes SEC East undefeated

By GRAHAM HALL | Nov. 14, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Florida was determined not to suffer a second straight letdown at the hands of South Carolina.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Accent speaker Al Sharpton sparks controversy

By Caitlin Ostroff | Nov. 12, 2015

Accent Speaker’s Bureau’s announcement about Rev. Al Sharpton coming to UF was met with controversy Thursday.

UF spokesman Steve Orlando (left) addresses about a dozen protesters participating in the nationwide Million Student March outside Tigert Hall on Nov. 12, 2015. Students and Gainesville locals protested rising tuition, loan debt and low-wage jobs offered to them after leaving school.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Students protest high tuition at Tigert Hall

By Martin Vassolo | Nov. 12, 2015

Timothy Hooker stood on the Plaza of the Americas with a sign that read, "My only sex life is getting f----d by student loans."

Photographs taken by UF Health pancreatic cancer survivors and caregivers line windows at the Criser Cancer Resource Center located in the UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital on Nov. 12, 2015. The photos were a part of a research study “Assessing the Benefits of PhotoVoice,” led by Shan Wong, 27-year-old UF clinical and health psychology graduate student. “It’s literally giving cameras to participants and having them tell us the stories of their lives and experiences through their pictures,“ Wong said.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Cancer patients share stories through photos

By Monica Andrade | Nov. 12, 2015

As a piano played softly in the background at the UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital on Thursday night, Ellen Waugerman reflected on her photographs of the moon, a rainbow and a firework.

Heather Monae Jackson, a 20-year-old UF business management senior and action co-chair of the Gator chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, stands in the middle of a demonstration on Turlington Plaza on Nov. 11, 2015, in support of University of Missouri students. “The primary message of the new generation is 'Justice or Else,'” she said, “and that is what this rally was about.”

NEWS | CAMPUS

In solidarity: Gainesville community stands with Mizzou on Wednesday

By Caitlin Ostroff | Nov. 11, 2015

With their arms around each other, chanting in a circle on Turlington Plaza, students and community members were united with the University of Missouri.

Wendy’s locations all over Gainesville, including the Reitz Student Union, revealed a new grilled chicken sandwich that is made with antibiotic free chicken. Gainesville is one of four markets with the new chicken sandwich.

NEWS | CAMPUS

UF group wants Wendy’s to give fair pay to farmers

By Caitlin Ostroff | Nov. 11, 2015

A group of UF students wants Wendy’s to ensure fair pay and working conditions for Florida’s tomato farmers, and they’re willing to stage a boycott of the Reitz Union Wendy’s if necessary.