The Fine Print, Spring 2016

VOLUME VIII, ISSUE III

thefineprintmag.org

SPRING 2016 FREE

Together We Stand

How a group of activists resisted a national corporation, p. 27

The story of a local woman who survived human trafficking, pg. 33

from the

EDITORIAL DESK

I

don’t like introductions.

I don’t like “How are you?” I don’t like “What’s up?” And I don’t like “How’s it going?”

It’s not that I don’t want to introduce myself (In fact, it’s the exact opposite: Hey, friends! I’m Molly, the newest print co-editor!), it’s that those questions give me anxiety. What am I supposed to say? Good? Nothing much? It’s going?

In fact, I’ve always been focused on the conclusion. I tend to look to the end of it all, like the last day of high School, election day, the end of a movie or the final sentence in a novel. Heartwrenching, gut-wrenching or neatly tied up, there’s something about the way things end — not just where they leave me, but how they leave me — that I can’t help but fixate on.

Naturally, I have a hard time experiencing the part in between.

While it makes me feel less, I usually enjoy it — and its moderated emotions — far more than the end.

My goal here at The Fine Print, for however long I’m involved, is to force myself to experience the process, the

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journey, the ride, the being of being at The Fine Print, of being at UF or Santa Fe, and of being in Gainesville.

This little world we live in here, with its brick walls and morose, softly hanging Spanish moss, has been created for us for right now. What we — as you’re likely a college student, too — are left to grapple with is the struggle between knowing that our purpose here is to work toward a Future awaiting us there, and not letting who we’re going to be and what we’re going to do take over who we are right now.

When I’m writing and editing at my best, The Fine Print is my escape from that struggle and, hopefully, it can be yours, too.

thefineprintmag.org

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PLUS! Comment on stories, see photos from the printed issue (and more!) IN COLOR, flip through a digital version of the printed edition and much, much more, all updated throughout the month.

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Published with support from Generation Progress/Center for American Progress (online at GenerationProgress.org).

Editor-in-Chief

Samantha Schuyler

Managing Editor & Layout Director

Sarah Senfeld

Print Editors

Molly Minta Shayna Tanen

Photo Director

Sean Doolan

Art Director

Sara Nettle

Art Editors

Sydney Martin Shannon Nehiley

Creative Writing Editors

Victor Florence Melia Jacquot

Copy Editors

Adriana Barbat Lilly Dunaj Kai Su

Web Editors

Samantha Schuyler Sarah Senfeld

Social Media

Erick Edwing Lissa Aderholdt

Page Designers

Lauren Johnson Molly Minta Samantha Schuyler

Advertising Assistants

Kathleen Driscoll Brendan Martin Leanne Sheth Ann-Marie Tamburro

MISSION STATEMENT

Our mission is to serve the Gainesville community by providing an independent outlet for political, social and arts coverage through local, in-depth reporting.

CONTACT US

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IN THIS ISSUE

Cover art by Aneri Pandya.

COLUMNS Monthly Manifesto, p. 05 Volunteer law students and attorneys help restore civil rights for felons.

Read Up, Chow Down, p. 08 Sip on Dragonfly’s award-winning cocktail. (Plus a non-alcoholic option.)

Opinion, p. 06 It’s easier to get a gun than an abortion.

For The Record, p. 10 The scoop on locally grown tunes from Akin Yai, Mariama Ndure and Consent.

SPOTLIGHTS

Food For Thought, p. 16 We take you on a trip through Gainesville’s international markets.

Women’s Movement, p. 18 A photostory on local women’s sports teams.

Simply Science,

p. 12

Over half of Alachua County’s waterways are impaired. .

Homestead Instead, p. 14 Stop the stink with some natural toiletries.

Prose + Poetry, p. 34 Poetry by PD Roberts.

She Sonders, p. 21 A new comic by Aneri Pandya.

Darkest Before The Dawn, p. 22 A night on duty with an Alachua County Crisis Center volunteer.

FEATURES Watch Your Waste, p. 24 Gainesville’s mandatory recycycling ordinance is loosely enforced.

Together We Stand, p. 27 A group of activists face off againist Plum Creek, a national corporation.

Special Thanks To Faye Williams Norm Lewis Ted Spiker

A Divorce from the Streets, p. 33 One woman’s story surviving human trafficking in Gainesville.

FEATURED STAFFER Brittany Evans

for your help & support

Women’s Movement, p. 18

Brittany Evans is a senior at UF studying health education and an illustrator at the Fine Print. She spends most of her day making phone calls in an office, but outside the 9-to5 you can find her working at a tiny, esoteric coffee shop in Gainesville or jogging aimlessly throughout town. After graduation, Brittany plans to continue shaming crowdsurfers and taking it personally when you don’t wear a bike helmet.

Spring 2016 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | 03

COLUMN / PAPER CUTS

Paper Ouch! That hurts, doesn’t it? Paper Cuts are our short, erratic and slightly painful updates on current, local and national events.

See our website for more Paper Cuts at thefineprintmag.org

By eTow n in the wake of Donald Trump’s disconcertingly enormous Florida win — grabbing every county in the state except Miami-Dade — let’s focus, for a moment, on an election scenario significantly less dread-inducing. For the sake of our collective mental health. Please.

Over the course of her three terms in office, Anita Alvarez, states attorney for Cook County, Illinois, has cleared Chicago cops involved in fatal police shootings 68 times without documented explanation.

She charged the policeman who gunned down 17-year-old Laquan McDonald with murder 400 days after the shooting, despite dash-cam footage showing the policeman shooting him 16 times. (She defended her inaction to Chicago Magazine.) She failed to charge a cop who falsely arrested 130 people for drunk driving. She punished children for life without parole, despite a 2012 Supreme Court ruling that kind of automatic sentencing unconstitutional. And she was running, this year, for a fourth term.

Knowing this, local grassroots organizations — at the helm of which was non-profit black feminist organization Assata’s Daughters — worked for months to protest fundraisers, speaking events and debates involving Alvarez, and launched #ByeAnita, a social media campaign that exploded on Twitter, which united the voices, articles and information describing Alvarez’s

04 | T H E

F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

misdoings under one stream.

And everything reached a crescendo in the days leading up to the state’s primary: The group organized 16 banner drops throughout Chicago denouncing her; hired a plane to fly over the city trailing a banner that read, “#ByeAnita;” and posted a video outlining their objections to Alvarez that earned 41,217 views. People signed off on Twitter photos of their “I Voted” stickers with #ByeAnita.

And the result? Alvarez was ousted, claiming only 29 percent; her opponent, Kim Foxx, walked away with 58. Assata’s Daughters capped the victory off with an official statement: “Chicago Black youth kicked Anita Alvarez out of office. Just a month ago, Anita Alvarez was winning in the polls.

Communities who refused to be killed and jailed and abused without any chance at justice refused to allow that to happen. We did this for Rekia. We did this for Laquan.

We won’t stop until we’re free and Kim Foxx should know that well.” •

By Samantha Schuyler

E-Yew poland is now a state of crisis.

It began in October of 2015, when the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) won a majority of seats in the Polish parliamentary elections. Immediately assuming office, the

party began to dismantle the country’s basic pillars of liberal democracy by removing judges previously appointed by the opposition Civic Platform (PO) party, passing a new law that puts the state media under government control and politicizing the civil service. PiS also went on to spout right-wing, nationalistic rhetoric, such as leveling charges of espionage and collusion with the Communist government against former president, leader of the Solidarity movement and longtime foe of the party, Lech Wałęsa.

Then, in an unprecedented move, the European Union began to probe into whether the rule of law was under threat in Poland. A leaked draft from the Venice Commission — a group of legal experts who advise the Council of Europe — concluded that as long as the constitutional court remains “unsettled” and unable to “carry out its work in an efficient manner,” not only is the “rule of law in danger, but democracy and basic human rights.”

This finding was followed by a bipartisan letter from U.S. Senators John McCain, Dick Durbin and Benjamin Cardin that urged Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo to uphold democratic norms, lest she and her fellow party members “undermine Poland’s role as a democratic model for other countries in the region still going through difficult transitions.”

Amid all of this, from December to February, the people have protested. Tens of thousands have marched so far in defense of democracy, wearing badges of solidarity and waving signs of Wałęsa’s face. •

By Molly Minta

COLUMN / MONTHLY MANIFESTO

T H E R E S T O R AT I O N OF CIVIL RIGHTS PROJECT

T

he Restoration of Civil Rights Project (RCR) is a volunteerbased organization that helps members of the community complete applications to restore three civil rights that are taken away when a person is convicted of a felony.

They are the right to vote, sit in a jury and hold public office. Established in 2005

by Attorney Meshon Rawls, RCR is comprised of law student volunteers, attorney volunteers from the Josiah T. Walls Bar Association, and other community volunteers.

Anyone who has been convicted of a felony in Florida automatically loses these civil rights, which can only be restored after a long waiting period and by an application requesting the governor to restore them.

Prior felons must wait five to seven years after they complete their sentence to be eligible to apply for rights restoration. Once the waiting period ends, ex-felons must mail their applications to the Office of Executive Clemency in Tallahassee, then wait an indeterminable amount of time to receive a decision from the governor’s office.

The process for restoration of rights was not always this way. The Florida

BY TAISSA MORIMOTO, ASSISTANT TO FOUNDER Constitution gives the governor the power to decide the rules surrounding rights restoration, which can change with each new governor. From 2007 to 2011, under Charlie Crist, ex-felons had their rights restored as soon as they completed their sentences.

Over his term, Crist restored the rights of over 155,000 ex-felons who successfully finished their sentences.

The rules for restoring rights changed dramatically when Rick Scott took office in 2011. He implemented the current eligibility standard, which requires ex-felons to wait five to seven years after completing their sentences before applying to restore their rights. From 2011 to 2015, only 1,534 ex-felons were able to restore their rights. Since Scott’s re-election in 2014, the restrictive rules of clemency have remained the same, making Florida the only state to require a fiveyear waiting period for each felony conviction.

Under Florida attorney Rawls’ direction, RCR helps convicted ex-felons navigate the rules of clemency to determine whether they are eligible to restore their rights.

If they are, volunteers guide them through the process of completing and mailing the

application to the governor’s office. RCR volunteers meet one-on-one with potential applicants during monthly workshops held around Gainesville (usually at public libraries). Volunteers will help determine whether attendees are eligible to apply for rights restoration If you are interested in volunteering with RCR or hosting training for a group of volunteers, please email Taissa Morimoto at nimko2@ ufl.edu.

If you are interested in determining your eligibility and applying to have your rights restored, please attend an RCR’s workshop or call 352-273-0800 to speak to Taissa Morimoto at the Virgil Hawkins Civil Clinic. •

Prior felons must wait five to seven years after they complete their sentence to be eligible to apply for rights restoration.

Spring 2016 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | 05

The Right

to Bear Arms Why is it easier to get a gun than an abortion?

A

man wants to buy a gun.

After traveling hundreds of miles, he pulls up to the gun store to see crowds of protestors picketing outside. The signs they hold read “murderer.”

He weaves through the aggressive protesters, his head tilted toward the pavement. He doesn’t understand why he can’t make this personal decision without the insistent, humiliating input of strangers. He knows he will always be judged for his decision to purchase a gun — a decision that will follow him for the rest of his life.

You probably get it by now, but this scenario doesn’t usually happen at gun shops. However, while abortion is as much a constitutional right as owning a gun, it is

06 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

BY SIDONIE WOLFSKEIL ILLUSTRATION BY SARA NETTLE

common for someone seeking an abortion to have to deal with this.

The U.S. is ironic that way, with gun laws that expand gun owners’ rights and abortion laws that restrict the practice. Somehow, purchasing a gun is effortless compared to the obstacles and institutionalized shame placed on a woman prior to an abortion.

Not only that, there are unspoken social restrictions around abortion. Discussing it is taboo. There’s a certain stigma when you hear the word — if you bring it up at a dinner party, watch how people cringe.

The right to carry, on the other hand, is preached and praised as a constitutional right, part of the privilege of

COLUMN / OPINION being an American.

Yet neither of these rights existed during the drafting of our Constitution — the Supreme Court, decades after, interpreted them into existence. For example, the Second Amendment wasn’t intended to give people the right to carry a concealed weapon; that was the Court’s interpretation. The Second Amendment reads, “a well regulat-

“

the “undue burden” standard established in 1992 by the Court. Essentially, it makes it constitutional to construct laws that act as obstacles, as long as the obstacles aren’t too extreme. As a result, women have had to deal with mandatory waiting periods, ultrasounds, transvaginal ultrasounds, listening to fetal heartbeats and more. Beyond the laws directed at women, specific

they believe they are under threat.

And most recently, our state has maintained consistent support for guns through the Florida House’s approval of a bill that would allow individuals with a concealed weapons permit to openly carry guns on public college campuses.

And if we want to keep talking about Florida, a recent proposal (HB 865) would make perform-

There are more places to buy

gun in this country than there are McDonald’s . a

ed Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

For years, citizens debated whether the reference to a well regulated Militia guaranteed the individual right to bear arms. In 2008’s District of Columbia v. Heller, the Court decided that a handgun ban in Washington, D.C., was unconstitutional, affirming an individual’s right to bear arms. This decision is not the Court’s only interpretation of the Second Amendment, but it’s the furthest interpretation from its original meaning.

The recent 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade reminds us that our right to choose is also guaranteed by the Constitution — something not explicitly stated, but implied through our right to privacy. And although Roe guarantees women the right to choose, lawmakers have found new and creative ways to target abortion providers and the women who seek them by enacting laws designed to either make getting an abortion impossible, or shame women for their choices.

These laws are OK because of

laws targeted at abortion providers have forced clinics around the country to shut down.

But a few obstacles placed in the way of purchasing a gun? Out of the question. As abortion providers continue to shut down at an alarming rate, the already outlandish number of gun providers increases every year. There are more places to buy a gun in this country than there are McDonald’s. And that doesn’t include gun shows, where you can purchase from unlicensed gun sellers who don’t have to conduct background checks and often don’t require identification.

In Florida the Second Amendment buttresses a slew of laws and social norms; we’re a veritable modern Wild West. You don’t need a permit or registration to purchase guns. With a permit, you can carry a concealed weapon — and Florida has issued over 900,000 such permits, surpassing even Texas.

Under state law, employers cannot ban employees from bringing guns to work. We were the first state to pass a “Stand Your Ground” law, which explicitly states that a person may use any level of force if

”

ing an abortion or operating an abortion clinic a first-degree felony in the state of Florida — which would be in direct violation of the ruling in Roe v. Wade. The bill is blatantly unconstitutional, and though it is not likely to become law, it passed through the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee 8-3. If similar legislation was proposed regarding guns, people would either riot in the streets or start preparing for the next zombie apocalypse.

A recent Gallup poll revealed that 19 percent of people think abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. That statistic doesn’t sound so bad, until you think about the lack of empathy 19 percent of the United States has for any woman who wishes to terminate her pregnancy. “Under all circumstances” includes rape, incest and health complications. This public opinion, combined with oppressive laws and violent protesters, creates a culture of shame. I don’t remember the last time an abortion killed a room full of school children. But in a male-driven society, what can we expect? • Spring 2016 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | 07

READ UP,

CHOW DOWN

PHOTO BY SEAN DOOLAN

I

BY SHAYNA TANEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY MELISSA GILLUM

n his 2001 review of the 1954 film “Seven Samurai,” Roger Ebert wrote that director Akira Kurosawa’s primary purpose was “to make a samurai movie that was anchored in ancient Japanese culture and yet argued for a flexible humanism in place of rigid traditions.”

That description embodies the purpose of Dragonfly, Gainesville’s upscale sushi restaurant and bar. It’s no wonder, then, that “Seven Samurai” plays on repeat on two flat-screen TVs in the back of the restaurant.

Unlike other restaurant/bars, which feature sliders and overly loud sports games, Dragonfly is decidedly different.

Its foundation is built upon Japanese cuisine and style (so you can order something deliciously traditional like pork ramen).

But Dragonfly dares to do more, pulling inspiration from global ingredients and giving way to not-so-traditional menu items, like the “Black ‘n Bleu,” a sushi roll with N.Y. strip steak, bleu cheese and honey wasabi mayo.

Katie Talbert, the front-of-house manager, said everything Dragonfly does is rooted in Japanese cuisine and culture.

08 | T H E

F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

“We build our ideas off of an izakaya concept,” she said, which “in Japan is going to be all those little mom-and-pop places that offer small, appetizer-sized portions paired with really delicious drinks to awaken your inner zen.”

Essentially, it’s a Japanese gastropub.

This style is intimate, Talbert said, and promotes a sense of togetherness, welcoming and family.

Talbert said that Dragonfly introduces you to unfamiliar Japanese ingredients without throwing you into the deep end.

It does this by serving, for example, a green tea creme brulee or a tuna flatbread.

Foreign, yet familiar.

Dragonfly’s superbly stocked bar also fuses Japanese and global tastes. And as any good gastropub would have it, the bar at Dragonfly is integral to its sushi izakaya experience.

And integral to that 201 SE 2nd Ave. is the award-winning head bartender, KrisGainesville, FL tin “Frosty” Amron, who 32601 makes it her personal goal to serve you the best drink you’ve ever had. And you should trust her,

y l f n Drago

COLUMN/READ UP, CHOW DOWN

Dragonfly presents:

because she probably will.

Amron said she loves when her customer lets her decide the drink. This type of trust in a bartender is her creative fuel. In Japanese this relationship is called omakase, she said, which means “trust the chef.”

The trend toward omakase has grown since she started working at Dragonfly over three years ago, she said, and with good reason: Amron’s got a taste for Japanese whiskey, herbs and a yummy Japanese citrus fruit called yuzu.

“I went through a phase where I used (yuzu) in every one of my omakase orders,” she said.

Amron got her start in the food industry as a hostess at an Outback Steakhouse, and she worked at Lillian’s downtown when she moved to Gainesville.

It wasn’t until she started bartending at Dragonfly that she found her passion for creating alcoholic drinks.

“It’s the best place I’ve ever worked,” she said of Dragonfly. “I wake up every day happy to go to work.”

Talbert said Dragonfly didn’t always have a Japenese-forward bar, but once Amron started bartending, she worked with sales reps to find some of the most sought-after Japanese spirits and liqueurs. Because of Amron’s careful research and interest in Japanese alcohol, she has been able to supply the bar with drinks like Yamazaki whiskey, a world-renowned Japanese whiskey, since before it started winning awards.

It is this passion for uniqueness and care for the customer experience that distinguishes Dragonfly from other Japanese restaurants — and other dinner spots downtown.

“People come here because they know about the talent here,” Amron said of the bartenders and chefs.

“At the end of the day, when you come into a bar and put real trust into your bartender, I think that speaks volumes,” she said. “And that’s something that happens here every day.” •

Shochu What’cha need:

mojito

• 1 ½ ounces shochu • 4-5 mint leaves, muddled • 2 Filthy cherries (Filthy is a brand of marinated cherries used for cocktails.

Amron purchases hers at Dorn’s Liquors & Wine Warehouse in Gainesville)

• ¾ ounce lavender simple syrup • ¾ ounce lemon juice • Ice • Soda water

What to do: Mix ingredients and serve over ice. Top it off with soda water.

HEADS UP! Shochu is a Japanese distilled spirit that is lower in alcohol content than stronger drinks like whiskey.

Amron said you can easily substitute vodka, tequila or rum, or leave the alcohol out altogether.

Simple Syrup Steep 1 tablespoon of flower petals in 2 cups water and 2 cups cane sugar.

Heat on stove until sugar dissolves.

Refrigerate for future use.

Gangster e and th

Geishh a Geis

What’cha need:

• 1 ounce Japanese whiskey • 1 ounce Fernet Branca (Fernet Branca is the adult version of Jagermeister, so you can substitute the college favorite here.)

• ¾ ounce hibiscus simple syrup • ¼ ounce yuzu (Yuzu is an • insanely delicious Japanese citrus.

You can find it at Asian markets in Gainesville like Chun Ching.)

What to do: Shake with ice, then serve up without ice. ALSO! Amron won first place in Florida at the Fernet Branca Competition with this drink.

IN SEASON A N D F R E SH bell pepper • cabbage cauliflower • celery grapefruit • mushroom papaya • squash • tangerine and more!

Spring 2016 | T H E

FINE PRINT|

09

FOR THE RECORD Showcasing local bands, the next big thing, and all your friends.

Akinlola “Akin” Yai poses for the camera. Photo by Rafael Hernandez.

AKIN YAI

violin, drums, vocals

Romantica

Hip-hop / rap released

Sept. 2016

multiple recording studios in Gainesville recorded at

sounds like modern version of the Romantic Movement inspiration

James Baldwin

key tracks

Skin, Dem Ghost

where to get it

Google Play

upcoming shows

Amazon, iTunes, TBA

Akinlola “Akin” Yai

after moving at age 8 to Gainesville from Benin,

a small West African country, Akinlola “Akin” Yai found himself instantly inspired by the city’s music scene. Yai developed a passion for hip-hop and new wave at a young age — and he’s been bound to it ever since.

“On my seventh birthday I thought I was going to get a drum set,” Yai said. But my dad got me a violin instead. I was like, ‘Oh no,’ because I sucked at it, but that ended up being part of my introduction to music.”

Yai began his career in music as a member of the band CYNE, an acronym that stands for Cultivating Your New Experience. He recorded professionally with the band from 2001 to 2009 before moving to Paris for seven years, where he worked on a majority of his solo albums.

The title of Yai’s newest album, “Romantica,” refers to the Romantic Movement. It plays with dark and passion-driven themes, oscillating from love to simple ardor for life.

Although most of Yai’s musical inspirations

10 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

If you’d like to see your band reviewed in For The Record or if you want to be considered to play at our next benefit show, email editors@thefineprintmag.org

emerged from for more information.

‘80s pop musicians such as Prince, Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, he also said Wu-Tang Clan was his biggest influence while growing as a lyricist. In 2008, Yai received an opportunity to open for Wu-Tang Clan in Élysée Montmartre, a legendary music hall in Paris, which he said was the most memorable moment of his career.

“It was awesome — they’re my heroes,” he said.

“They actually hadn’t performed together in about three or four years and got together in Paris to do the first show of their reunion tour, and it was in front of about 10,000 people.”

Yai currently lives in Gainesville but has performed in several other countries, including Poland and Guiana. Yai said his music became more universal and relatable when he moved from Africa to America.

“I’m just really fascinated by life, people and identity,” he said. “The way people relate themselves to the world at large is what inspires me.” •

BY PAULINA PRAPHANCHITH

MARIAMA NDURE Fall and Rise

Electronic soul / funk

Oct. 20, 2015 at producer Tristan Whitehill’s home studio sounds like Hiatus Kaiyote in space; Erykah Badu goes to Norway released

recorded

inspiration West Africa, Scandinavia, Stevie Wonder, Gainesville

Fruits of Joy, Beetle mariamandure. bandcamp.com/album/fall-andrise upcoming shows touring TBA key tracks

where to get it

CONSENT Title TBD

Jazz-influenced punk released

Summer 2016

recorded at Goldenstone Studio in Gainesville sounds like

ria, RVIVR

Waxahatchee, Lemu-

No Doubt, their friends, the Florida music scene

inspiration

key tracks

The Blame

where to get it

camp.com

consentfl.band-

upcoming shows touring Florida, Georgia and Alabama with Gutless from April 29 to May 5

vocals

Mariama Ndure Euglossine (Tristan Whitehill) and Ghost Fields (JP Wright)

prodcution

music, some scholars

say, was used by prehistoric humans as the earliest sort of proto-social community glue. The cement has certainly stuck around, a fact that Mariama Ndure demonstrates vividly on her debut EP Fall and Rise. Both in process and outcome, the EP is centrally about bringing people together.

“I think the EP is a story of my time in Gainesville, both good and bad,” Ndure said. “‘Neighbor’ is a song about my first time experiencing racism, which was in Gainesville.

The atmosphere making music was very open, and I was able to sort of let it all out.”

In the course of composing and recording, Ndure found a fitting musical friend in Tristan Whitehill, also known as Euglossine.

“It was a very collaborative effort,” Ndure said. “Tristan had

been working on an early version of ‘Fruits of Joy’ and approached me and said, ‘I think your voice would be great on it.’”

From there the collaboration was a natural fit, a fact highlighted by the smooth gel of the production and vocals.

“I would go to his house, and we would just start jamming,” Ndure said. “Next thing you know, I’m adding stuff, Tristan is adding stuff, and suddenly a song evolves.”

The four-song EP blends elements of R&B, funk, soul, electronic and Euglossine-tinged space-bubble into a shimmering, celestial groove. The true standout is Ndure’s voice, which slides effortlessly from full and raspy to high and ethereal, retaining its power throughout.

The daughter of Gambian immigrants, Ndure grew up in Norway and studied music in America. She

Bianca Joy Runkles Maxim White

BY MICHAEL HOLCOMB

said she draws from a host of experiences and cultures when creating music.

“As I’ve gotten older I’ve become more aware and appreciative of my heritage,” she said.

Although the effects are subtle, this prismatic array of influences lends a richness to the music, and a depth to Ndure’s vocal talent. And as much as the record is about communities and friendships, it is a bold statement in self-expression. In a layered way that only music could capture, “Fall and Rise” is documentary.

Having recently returned to live in Norway, Ndure looks back fondly on her time spent in Gainesville.

“I feel like I had time to really nourish my skill, and I got to meet and work with inspiring and driven people,” she said. “A part of me was found in Gainesville.” •

guitar and vocals drums

with each song, self-declared musical soulmates Bianca Joy Runkles and Maxim White try to tell a story.

“We play from our hearts and experiences,” Runkles said, “and losses and good times.”

Both members grew up around Ocala and in the same social circles, Runkles said, but it wasn’t until a mutual friend brought them together that they started to collaborate.

After meeting, the pair discovered an undeniable songwriting chemistry.

“We can just sit down with acoustic guitars and just play for hours and not stop,” said White, who has been playing in bands for about 10 years. “It’s really hard to collaborate with people. But with me and Bianca, it’s really organic and not forced.”

“I’ve never ever had anything like it with anyone else I’ve written music with,” Runkles said.

Consent’s debut single showcases the band’s ability to create a full, explosive sound with just two

BY GABRIELLE CALISE members. In “The Blame,” Runkles’ sharp howl cuts above slinky guitar riffs and a barrage of punchy drums.

Consent will be recording with Rob McGregor, who has worked with bands like Hot Water Music and Against Me, at Goldentone Studio in Gainesville. Runkles is excited to press her band’s music on vinyl, especially since it will attract a niche group of listeners.

“People that go out and get vinyl actually like music,” she said. “They really like it, and they want to have it in their hands, and I think that’s special.”

For Runkles, listening to records changed her life, especially the album Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt.

She said hearing that album was the first time she soaked in the distinct parts of a piece of music, paying close attention to elements like the bass line and harmonies.

“Especially when I got the vinyl, it was just crisper and everything sounded better,” she said. “That al-

bum made me want to be a musician.”

In their own music, White and Runkles try to take a DIY approach.

“We make our own T-shirts,” White said. “We print and cut our own stickers. We don’t really try to get help from anyone with promotion.”

After releasing their song “The Blame” on Bandcamp.com, the pair decided to shoot a music video — even though they had no prior experience with film.

Armed with $100 worth of Christmas lights, the duo built a soft box (a lighting device used in photography) and shot the video after work, enlisting their friend Gerald Gibson to help edit. As in everything else they do, their joy comes through in the video.

“We genuinely just love playing together,” Runkles said, “and we are ecstatic that people are receiving it as well as we are.” •

Spring 2016 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | 11

COLUMN / SIMPLY SCIENCE

TR UBLED WATERS we are increasingly dumping waste into our water. and it’s made an impact.

W

BY BRANDON CORDER ILLUSTRATION BY MELODY MULLALLY

ater. We cook with it. We swim and play in it. We grow our food with it and travel on it. We like to look at it and, ultimately, drink it. And 10 percent of Alachua County is covered in it, a result of Florida’s submerged past: Millions of years ago, most of North Florida (including Alachua County) was under water. When the water receded, it left behind remains of coral that compacted into limestone. Over time, erosion of this limestone yielded a unique type of landscape known as karst, which is responsible for our Swiss cheese patchwork of lakes, springs, aquifers and rivers.

Unfortunately, as industry and growth accelerate, we are increasingly dumping waste into our water. And it’s made an impact. At least half of the 40 named waterways in Alachua County are impaired. As recently as 2015, the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department announced that Hogtown Creek, which runs through the heart of Gainesville, had at least four times the maximum allowed concentration of fecal bacteria colonies. The City of Gainesville recently posted signs warning potential bathers or fossil hunters to avoid getting

12 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

water in their mouth, ears or eyes. Additionally, Newnans Lake, one of the largest lakes in Alachua County, has about double the target concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as double the ideal concentration of chlorophyll-a, a pigment that indicates the amount of algae in the lake.

Water pollution around the country is a concern, said Stacie Greco, water conservation coordinator at the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department. Alachua County is no different. Urban streams like Hogtown Creek are especially affected.

Many of these urban waterways are inundated with fecal bacteria from pet and human waste, as well as surface pollutants such as oil from roads, pesticides, fertilizers and yard waste. Pollution is especially high after storms, which carry pollutants down storm drains into surface or groundwater.

The quality of the pollutants is also important to consider. Many pollutants unintentionally added by people, such as fertilizers, are nutrients for more than just your plants — algae and bacteria thrive on them, too, and large inputs of nutrients into a basin can allow harmful microorganisms to bloom and increase exponentially. And just like humans, these microbes respire, which removes oxygen from the water and suffocates fish and plants.

In Alachua County, researchers have known for decades that this effect, known as eutrophication, occurs in lakes such as Newnans Lake and Lake Wauberg.

Half a dozen agencies periodically measure the decreasing dissolved oxygen concentration and the level of pigments derived from the algae in the water. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has measured

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES Some ways you can help save our water:

1.

4.

2.

5.

do NOT dump trash, lawn clippings, oil, fertilizers, chemicals or pesticides into the street. These can accumulate in storm drains and harm wildlife when they reach water. if you fertilize your plants, DON’T apply before rain or in wet months. rain washes away the nutrients and contributes to pollution.

cotnsider ditching your lawn for native plants. native plants DON’T need extra water or fertilizing, and they look beautiful!

3.

6.

if you grow A LOT of plants, consider testing your soil for cheap at the university. they can tell you the nutrient concentration in your soil so you know the amount of fertilizer needed and can limit excess runoff.

and fecal bacteria can also run off into the water.

Both can cause big problems to wildlife and humans. In the case of Lake Apopka, improper dumping of toxic chemicals only compounded water quality issues. While heavy metals such as lead or cadmium are less common pollutants in local watersheds where there is less industry, bacteria such as E. coli, mostly from pet waste runoff and faulty septic tanks, has impaired local waterways. In addition to Hogtown Creek, several other nearby waterways including Sweetwater Branch and Orange Creek are impaired, Greco said.

While measuring pollutant concentrations may be relatively straightforward, managing an impaired waterway isn’t always easy, Greco said.

A lot of it comes from understanding exactly where the pollution comes from. Pollutants are defined by scientists as either point-source or nonpoint-source, Curry said. The former refers to an identifiable source (such as a pipe from an industrial plant), the latter to in discernable or ambiguous sources (such as stormwater runoff from an entire neighborhood). Additionally, waterways are classified by their use, whether for water, shellfish propagation, fishing and recreation, or navigation and industry.

if you have a septic tank, KEEP it in working condition and look for wet spots that may indicate leakage.

Although the details get pretty technical and the acronyms increasingly frequent and confusing, basically the 1972 Clean Water Act, signed into law by Richard Nixon, outlined two main ways to limit water pollution, Greco said.

This is included in a Basin Management Plan for the waterway, available online to the public, which outlines how to clean up an impaired waterway. For point-source pollution, such as discharge from a dairy farm, farmers must get a permit to dump their waste and can only dump up to a level deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency, called a Total Maximum Daily Load. Nonpoint sources, however, are more complicated. For these, pollutants may be physically separated from the watershed by retention ponds or buffers, or communities can adopt Best Management Practices to limit the amount of pollution allowed.

For Gainesville, this means a dedicated team of water quality scientists is always on hand to measure water quality markers and discern the possible sources of pollution into our watersheds. Additionally, local industries and farms are educated on Best Management Practices and permits to make sure their waste is properly managed. •

BODY OF WATER

IMPAIRMENT

Hatchet Creek Lake Kanapaha Lake Alice Outlet Orange Lake Cross Creek Newnans Lake Hogtown Creek Lake Wauberg Santa Fe River

Fecal coliform bacteria, chlorophyll-a Nitrogen, phosphorus, biological oxygen demand Fecal coliform Dissolved oxygen Dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a Nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll-a Fecal coliform bacteria Nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll-a Nitrate, dissolved oxygen, fecal coliform bacteria

IMPAIRED?

WHAT'S

declining sport fish populations since the early 1980s in Newnans Lake, and Lake Wauberg has been eutrophic since at least 1990. Often, Greco said, the source of these nutrients in rural waterways is farm waste or fertilizer runoff from lawns, as is the case in Newnans Lake. A similar process leads to the analogous red tide seen along Florida shores, which can lead to massive fish die-offs, skin rashes and harmful accumulation of toxins in shellfish.

Left untreated, eutrophic lakes can become completely barren of life and unusable for fishing or recreation. One of the most widely known examples of this is in Central Florida.

Lake Apopka, near Orlando, used to be renowned worldwide for its sport fishing and clear water. As nutrients from surrounding farms began leaching into the water, said Susan Curry, a professor of environmental management at the University of Florida, the population of game fish declined. Soon the lake became murky and unusable for recreation.

The clean-up effort has come at a cost for Orange County — nearly $200 million.

Contamination is also a critical quality issue local waterways face. Like nutrients, contaminants such as heavy metals, chemicals

clean up after your pet. pet waste ADDS bacteria to the water.

Spring 2016 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | 13

I BEEN

BY EMILY MILLER ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELIZABETH RHODES smell the roses: We all stink. When your pits or breath are making your eyes water, it’s easy to turn to commercial products to tame them. But there are many natural ways to smell nice and rosy without harmful chemicals getting in the way. Being self-sufficient — especially in odorous areas — can be hard, but with these recipes you’ll be smelling good and feeling good knowing you’re au naturel. • wake up and

INGREDIENTS

into a bowl, then soften it in the microwave for a few seconds. It just needs to be pliable, so try not to melt it completely. If you do, that’s OK — it’ll still work.

scoop coconut oil

• ¼ cup coconut oil • 3 ½ teaspoons bentonite clay • 2 teaspoons diatomaceous earth • Any essential oil blend • 1 glass jar

and diatomaceous earth separately.

Stir until each is dissolved.

add bentonite clay

add essential oils.

Any blend will do, depending on your preference.

Here're our favorites:

7 5 5

drops grapefruit drops peppermint drops tea trea

apply a pea-sized amount

every morning, allowing it to dry before getting dressed.

14 | T H E

F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

*

Before you start using natural deodorant, it's important to detox your pits first. For our natural pit detox recipe, visit www.thefineprintmag.org.

COLUMN / HOMESTEAD INSTEAD

INGREDIENTS • ¼ cup coconut oil • 1 tablespoon bentonite clay • 1½ teaspoons diatomaceous earth • 1 teaspoon baking soda • Essential oil blend • 1 glass jar add essential oils.

same as

natural deodorant.

Soften that coconut oil and stir in the clay and earth separately.

the

&

Any blend will do, depending on your preference. Here're our favorites:

7 drops peppermint 5 drops lemon 5 drops lavendar

brush at least

twice a day, and breathe happy.

INGREDIENTS • 2 tablespoons witch hazel astringent • Essential oils • 4-ounce spray bottle • Distilled or bottled water essential oils. A blend of 10 drops lemon and 10 drops lavender will really knock out the stench.

choose

your

and essential oils in spray bottle.

Shake well.

combine witch hazel

add water to

bottle until full.

spray

toilet, shake the bottle and spray inside the bowl to create a seal for the odor. Let the stinkfree bathroom visits begin.

before

using

the

Spring 2016 | T H E

FINE PRINT|

15

Expand your palate and your pantry with treats from around the world.

BY HELEN STADELMAIER & MELODY MULLALLY ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRITTANY EVANS Ever look at an ingredient in a recipe and get a sinking feeling? The “that’s going to be a tough one to find” feeling. You picture yourself wandering the same few aisles in Publix, losing your grip on reality, deeply offended by the meager international section. The guy stacking canned vegetables shakes his head when you ask. You feel it, the cold wind of defeat. But none of this has to happen!

There are plenty of international food markets in the city that could have exactly what you’re looking for. Even better, they’re full of delicious things to try. And we checked them all out for you.

INDIA BAZAAR

3550 SW 34TH ST

Tuesday – Sunday 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.

The Indian Bazaar has put its recent expansion to great use, stocking ingredients and prepared foods from the subcontinent.

The store features several aisles of spices, nuts and snacks, as well as a sizeable produce section. They also sell prepared foods, like delicious samosas filled with curried vegetables. There is no shortage of dessert at India Bazaar, with a section dedicated to popular Indian sweets. You can purchase treats like coconut kala jam (bite-sized balls made of coconut, sugar and milk), which can be served cool or hot.

Try it over ice cream.

INDIA SPICE

2107 NW 13TH ST Monday – Saturday Sunday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.

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RUSSIAN FOOD 5200 NW 34TH ST

Tuesday – Saturday Sunday 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Tucked in a hidden plaza in Northwest Gainesville, the Russian Food market is a small store that can satisfy all your Eastern European cooking needs. There are shelves of packaged cookies and cakes, as well as a refrigerated section in the back with sausages, pierogies and head cheese. They also carry a wide variety of pickled vegetables. The owner suggested trying the vodka-filled chocolates, a Russian dessert. After experiencing the taste of the fragile chocolate shell collapse in a burst of vodka, we’d absolutely recommend it, too.

EASTERN MARKET

1349 NW 23RD AVE

Monday – Sunday 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.

The Eastern Market is an expansive grocery store, with endless aisles carrying an array of foods native to China and Taiwan. You can find fresh produce, packaged rice noodles and, in the front of the store, two large freezers filled with ice pops and mochi in almost any flavor you can imagine — from lychee to taro to Thai tea. We tried the Taiwanese milk tea ice pops, which were dotted with frozen tapioca beads like the ones in boba tea. They were creamy and flavorful, with a strong aroma of black tea — perfect for cooling off on a warm Gainesville day.

India Spice is a small, homey shop where you’re greeted with the smell of incense and the sound of softly cooing sitar ragas playing over the speakers. You’ll find aisles stocked with Indian spices, halal meats and sweet treats. For example, jalebi is a tangle of deep fried pastry ribbons found in the shop’s frozen section. Soaked in sugar, this pastry recalls fair favorites like funnel cake, doughnuts and churros.

PHILIPPINE EXPRESS

4000 W. NEWBERRY RD

Tuesday – Saturday 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Sunday 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

On Tuesdays and Sundays, Philippine Express is a full-service restaurant. However, you can stop in and enjoy this densely stocked grocery store any day of the week. The shop area is small, but it’s home to many favorites like lumpia (a filipino eggroll) and siopao (a delicious steamed dumpling stuffed with meat). There’s no shortage of snacks either, as the aisles are stocked with dried mango, banana chips and shrimp flavored crackers. The store’s freezers also contain Ube Ice Cream, a vibrant purple ice cream flavored with purple yams — a crop native to the Philippines.

CHUN CHING 418 NW 8TH AVE

Monday – Wednesday 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Thursday - Saturday 9 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Chun Ching offers a variety of East Asian food and drink, including delicacies like preserved century-old eggs, spiky Indonesian durian fruit and packaged dried squid from Japan. They even have a colorful array of fresh fish on ice. It’s an ideal place to let your sense of gustatory adventure go wild, because their candy situation is crazy. They have several aisles dedicated to sweets, where you can find delicious, gluten-free Japanese apple gummy candies. Soft, light, juicy and portable, they make for a great midafternoon snack.

LA TIENDA

2204 SW 13TH ST

Monday – Thursday 11 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Friday - Saturday 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

SPOTLIGHT

ORIENTAL FOOD & GIFT 3345 SW 34TH ST #3 Monday – Sunday 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Nestled in a plaza off 34th Street and Archer, Oriental Food & Gift offers inexpensive produce like fresh bok choy and shiitake mushrooms, exotic teas from Thailand and Korea, and even household appliances.

If you’re looking for a good deal on a rice cooker, this shop has you covered. They also sell daifuku mochi, or simply daifuku, a Japanese glutinous rice cake filled with sweetened azuki beans. Breaking through the outer layer of stretchy tapioca dough to access the inner layer of pillowy, sweet red bean paste is enough to turn your day around.

ZEEZENIA INTERNATIONAL MARKET 2325 SW 13TH ST

Monday – Sunday 8 a.m. - 9 p.m.

If you’re feeling inspired to do some Middle Eastern cooking after dining at Gyro Plus, head next door to Zeezenia International Market. A new addition to Gainesville, this market is a large space with produce, halal meat, a wide selection of bulk rice, and sweets and snacks like Turkish Delight. If you’re in need of a snack, Zeezenia also serves Turkish coffee and homemade nougat candies — creamy, gooey morsels packed with hearty pistachio nuts.

Although best known as a delicious and affordable Mexican restaurant, La Tienda (literally “the store” in Spanish) keeps a small shop stocked at the front of the restaurant. The shop includes various household items, candies, tortillas and canned goods, as well as a refrigerated section with fresh cakes and sweets. But the main event here is the house-made flan.

Caramel-y, smooth and super sweet, you can take one home to enjoy after you have digested your burrito and are ready for dessert.

LA AURORA

3733 W UNIVERSITY AVE

Monday – Sunday 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

La Aurora is a Latin American market with all the works. It offers tasty staples like queso blanco, P.A.N. corn meal mix, a large selection of freshly cut meats and quality produce — more than you’ll find in your neighborhood Publix. We decided to try, to our delight, candied guava. The tiny square candies covered with crystalline sugar had a hardened jelly consistency and tasted like a blend of pear and strawberry.

SPOTLIGHT

WOMEN’S MOVEMENT

BY MOLLY MINTA & CHELSEA HELT PHOTOS BY SEAN DOOLAN

W

hen she was two years old, Cindy Sigler was involved in a really bad bike accident. She was t-boned at top speed and, until she got to Gainesville, she had not ridden a bike since.

Sigler, a plant genetics major at the University of Florida, discovered The Freewheel Project, a local non-profit bike collective and shop, through her roommate. Eager to overcome her fear of biking, Sigler decided to join the project’s weekly rides.

But she found the co-ed ones unfulfilling.

“Some of my guy friends just get really competitive about riding,” she said. “Just how boys show off because they’re boys, so they’ll bike ahead.”

So Sigler decided to try the women’s rides.

Though she’s only been on one, she found the ride to be empowering.

“It feels more like a teamwork kind-of-thing, like a little pod,” she said. “No one’s separated, we’re

all just riding together.”

It was this feeling that Sigler described – empowerment – that led Ana Farajado to create the Freewheel Project’s weekly women’s ride. It’s the empowerment that comes from working together, whether it be the sweatiness of the Gainesville Roller Rebels, Alachua County’s first and only competitive women’s flat track roller derby league, or the scrappiness of the Florida Ultimate Elite Ladies, UF’s Women’s Ultimate Frisbee team.

“Pleasant,” as Sigler said, or aggressive, what unites all these women is the power of the relationships they build while learning to rely on their teammates and learning to trust themselves. • Current page: (top,) Two members of the Gainesville Roller Rebels skate around as they wait for practice to begin. “Roller derby is a lot more inclusive of people of different body types, there’s kind of a space for everyone. Small people, tall, short, big, whatever size you are, you can play,” Tobias said. (bottom left,) The women’s bathroom sign inside the Alachua

SPOTLIGHT

County Fairgrounds building where the Gainesville Roller Rebels practice. “It’s really empowering being a part of a sport that’s so female dominated, because there’s not a lot of space for that,” Chelsea “Slayer” Tobias said. The derby names are personally chosen by each player and are typically a play on words or a pop-culture reference. Opposite page: (bottom right,) A team member of the Roller Rebels gears up before practice. “It’s very empowering for people who do it,” said Katy “Feyd-Wratha” Lazarus. The Roller Rebels solely responsible for raising money, scheduling bouts, getting uniforms and running practice. Current page: (top left,) Kristen Gaines, 20, screws her front wheel on. “Women in any sort of male dominated area just have more of a connection because multiple people share that common interest and can talk about

what you like to build, or trails you like to ride,” she said. (top right,) Weekly women’s ride bikers line up outside of The Freewheel Project before heading out. “I really like the empowerment that can happen among women,” Fajardo said. Fajardo chose to run the women’s ride through The Freewheel Project because of its goals of empowerment and accessibility through biking. From left to right: Cindy Sigler, Amber Medina, Ana Fajardo, Kristen Gaines and Nicole Davila. (bottom,) Gainesville Roller Rebels warm up for practice in a lap around the track.

“You need to be committed, during and outside of practice. You need to show up, you need to help out and you need to work hard. Anyone can play derby, but I think only dedicated people should be a part of it,” Rhea “Audrey Scorn” Begazo, 21, said.

SPOTLIGHT

Current page: (top,) Flicking the disc past her opponent, Lucy Berman helps advance the play down the field. This is her third year on FUEL, and she credits the all-woman team with teaching her to stand up for herself. “With these girls, we all have this common goal, and it makes this environment of pure positivity,” she said, “and encouragement, and not caring what we look like, and just wanting so badly to win something together.” (left,) A bike leans against a work counter. It’s not just the ride that’s important to the people at The Freewheel Project, but the time spent working on their bikes. (right,) Leaping into the air, Harley Peters catches the flying disc with a gator chomp. This is her second year on FUEL, which she joined after playing a couple pick-up Ultimate games. For her, the team is defined by its motto: relentless positivity. (bottom,) Lily Moline strides to the finish line, completing a play as the the team practices around her. For the women of FUEL, the central component of their empowerment is to learn how to be independent, but also how to trust in their teammates.

20 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

COMIC

SPOTLIGHT

DARKEST before the DAWN

BY MOLLY MINTA ILLUSTRATIONS BY SARAH SENFELD

I

t’s midnight. The stars have come out. Doors are locked. Windows are dark.

But out in East Gainesville, a light is still on as Sara Lee, one of approximately 120 volunteers at the Alachua County Crisis Center, prepares to start her night shift in the phone room.

The homey phone room is traditional. Four desks are scattered around the room, each with two white, corded phones on top — a total of eight phone lines. Client notes, filed in manila folders, are written with paper and pencil.

Depending on how busy the night is, Lee, 21, may spend her shift running from desk to desk as she juggles calls, or curled up on the couch, dozing off between chapters of a good book.

The number of calls Lee will get is unpredictable, and as the first one comes in, she wonders what tonight will bring.

Lee picks up the phone.

“Crisis center,” she says.

T

he Alachua County Crisis Center was

22 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

What is it like to be a volunteer at the Alachua County Crisis Center’s hotline?

founded in December 1969 as part of a grant from the University of Florida Clinical Psychology Department to study suicide. It responds to over 60,000 calls a year from all over the country, not just from Alachua County.

Between 2012 and 2014, 103 people committed suicide in Alachua County. About as many commit suicide each day in the U.S. When people call the national suicide hotline, they’re typically routed to the nearest available crisis center. However, due to the scarcity of centers in most states — Florida, with five, is considered “lucky,” Lee said — people from across the country could be re-routed to Alachua County. Because people call the center for many reasons, ranging from schoolwork to suicide, it’s difficult to predict what a single call will be about.

But regardless of its nature, Lee greets each call with genuine empathy.

“Empathy is always the key factor in being present with someone on a call,” Lee said. Empathy is “allowing yourself to really

imagine those emotions [the caller] is feeling, and to allow yourself to be vulnerable, in order to reflect those feelings back to the callers or individuals.”

It comes from a well intentioned place, Lee said, but in day-to-day conversations, people tend to offer advice rather than actively listen and engage with someone in a vulnerable way. Volunteers learn these techniques through a 60-hour, sixweek training process.

After training they’re asked to commit to a minimum six-month period of volunteering.

Volunteer coordinator Ashley Bobroff is one of five paid staff members at the center. She’s in charge of the in-house training teams, which acquaint volunteers with the phone room, prepare them to make calls and provide support throughout the rigorous training process.

“The actual six-week training process is probably the hardest part of everything,” Bobroff said.

The first technique volunteers learn is called “paraphrasing.”

“I hate my dad,” the caller says. “He never listens to me.”

After two years at the crisis center, Lee is a seasoned volunteer. She no longer has to ask herself, “So, what emotion is the caller feeling?”

Instead, she immediately responds. Her warm voice is soft and meandering.

She always sounds as if she’s smiling.

“You feel frustrated,” she responds. “You feel angry.”

Paraphrases are reflective statements, not questions, that prompt the caller to clarify how he or she feels. A question, Lee said, gives the caller the opportunity to deny their feelings, when what they

need is to affirm them. This is especially important when dealing with stigmatized topics like suicide.

One of the most important things they do, she said, is give the crisis a name.

“Since it is usually so taboo,” Lee said, “a lot of these callers may not have had the chance to talk to anyone about this or to confide in anyone that they were thinking about suicide.”

Brandon LaBelle, a fourth-year public relations major at the University of Florida, first called a crisis hotline when he was 15. The volunteer on the phone was the first person he told about the abuse he experienced as a child. He said he found the paraphrasing statements helped him achieve selfawareness, which he considers necessary for managing his bipolar disorder.

“You can just be so caught up in yourself that you don’t even know what’s happening in your head,” he said.

“When you’re able to pause and to stop and think … it made me realize how illogical I sounded.”

Sometimes, however, questions are necessary.

“I don’t know what else I can do,” the caller says. Lee senses her urgency.

“You’re thinking about killing yourself,” she responds.

“Yes.” The caller’s flat voice lifts for a moment. Lee can hear her breath rasp through the plastic grid of the receiver.

“What is your plan?” She asks honestly. “Do you have a plan? How long have you been thinking about this?”

Lee builds a rapport with the caller using empathy and active listening.

Ideally, this lets her direct the conversation into a lethality assessment, where she asks callers questions about their intentions.

This algorithmic process of statements and clarification is called “de-escalation,” a specific technique within the crisis center philosophy that combines everything from the tone of the volunteer’s voice to the words used when labeling the caller’s emotion.

The ultimate goal is to create a

“Suicide happens when the hopelessness is bigger than [the caller’s] connection,”

connection with the caller.

“Suicide happens when the hopelessness is bigger than [the caller’s] connection,” Bobroff said. “So if you can increase their connection, then you can give people a bigger sense of hope.”

LaBelle called a crisis center for the second time last year, when he was experiencing a manic phase after breaking up with his girlfriend.

“I was really scared,” he said. “I felt like I was 15, [but] they talked to me for about 45 minutes. We apartment hunted together. They were getting me all set up to make sure I had a foundation. It really just felt like a normal conversation — as if I was just calling a friend.”

Though the volunteers can provide support to callers in crisis, they’re taught during training that, ultimately, they can only do so much. Even though the volunteers at the crisis center want to ensure the safety of every individual who calls, Lee said, they understand that it’s not in their power.

center always has an associate oncall; just like the callers, Lee has someone to reach out to.

“It’s a community of very empathetic people who are very open-minded and very sensitive to these issues and to looking out for each other’s well-being,” she said.

Most of the world may be asleep during the night, but Lee and the other volunteers are still awake. By providing support to each caller in need, they, too, listen, learn and grow. •

T

he caller, now calm after their conversation, hangs up.

As the clock ticks toward dawn, Lee spends the rest of the night taking calls from people across the country, in a place that has become more of a living room than a workspace. Though she’s the only person in the room, she’s not really alone. Her fellow volunteers have become family to her. The crisis Spring 2016 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | 23

Gainesville’s ordinance code says that all businesses must recycle, but some don’t know it exists.

PHOTO BY SEAN DOOLAN 24 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

T

wo recycling bins stand behind the counter at The Midnight, a bar in downtown Gainesville. Throughout the night, they fill with the evening’s bottles and cans. At closing time, they are emptied into outside receptacles.

This process puts Beverly Webb, owner of The Midnight, in perfect compliance with Gainesville’s mandatory recycling ordinance — something she never knew existed.

The recycling law, established in 1997 to recover as much reusable material as possible, requires the bar to recycle those materials. Outlined in Sec. 27–85 of Gainesville’s municipal code, it states that all businesses are required to recycle waste if 15 percent of it is made up of either paper and cardboard or glasses, plastics and aluminum.

The Fine Print polled 40 businesses to determine what kinds of materials they recycle.

We chose to interview a sample group of restaurants, bars, clothing stores and grocery stores.

In a separate survey — with some overlap between businesses polled in each — we asked over 30 different businesses (restaurants, bars, clothing stores and grocery stores) in Gainesville if they had heard of the mandatory recycling ordinance.

Sixty-six percent of employees we spoke to had not.

“No one ever told me that it [recycling] was required, “ Webb said. “Recycling was an option, so I picked it.”

Despite potential warnings and fines for not complying with the ordinance, there is no formal registration with the city to recycle, said Steve Joplin, solid waste manager of Gainesville’s solid waste division. He said businesses must pay a garbage

hauler to set up bins and pick up their recyclables.

The only way the city truly knows if a business is not recycling is if a city inspector visits the business and observes it, or if a community member calls the waste division.

Joplin also said four garbage inspectors are responsible for visiting both residences and businesses to ensure they are recycling properly.

According to the 2010 US Census, there are over 50,000 occupied homes in Gainesville.

The US Census’ 2007 survey of business owners lists nearly 11,000 companies. With so few inspectors, Joplin said, a business could go without an inspection for over a year. Some years, however, the solid waste division emphasizes commercial business inspections, and inspectors visit all businesses within one year, he said.

If a business is found to be noncompliant, it is first issued a warning and given 30 days to start recycling. If it doesn’t, the city orders a civil citation of $125, Joplin said. The fines can increase up to $500 for each day a business does not comply, but Joplin said he has never seen that happen.

The ordinance has — shall we say — baby teeth.

In fact, in an email, Joplin wrote that until 2014 there were no penalties available in the mandatory commercial ordinance to impose on noncompliant businesses.

According to today’s ordinance, if the city is suspicious of a business’ non-compliance, it may ask for proof, such as a receipt showing that the business is paying a garbage hauler to collect its recyclables.

But some businesses are higher up than others on the city’s list.

Patrick Irby, the waste alternatives manager of Alachua County, said businesses with

Spring 2016 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | 25

waste that is less than 15 percent recyclable are not as much of a priority for regulators, which is why the ordinance doesn’t include them.

“If you only have so many people you can check up on every year, why not focus on the big producers, you know?” Irby said.

Weecycle, a children and maternity store, is not one of those big producers. Tamra McConnell, a Weecycle employee, said the store doesn’t have trash or recycling pickup. Because of how little trash the store produces, it is not covered by the recycling ordinance.

Despite this, all the women who work at the store bring recycling and trash home with them.

This was also the case for Eat the 80, a healthy meal delivery company. While it produces more waste, it does not have a formal recycling disposal system; employees take their recyclables home.

“Because we use plastic, we definitely want to make the effort to recycle it,” said Carlee Marhefka, owner of Eat the 80. “It’s not difficult at all.”

Civilization, a co-op restaurant that serves locally sourced ingredients, is another business that goes above and beyond in its social responsibilities.

Ann Murray, a member of the co-op, said the restaurant recycles both tree-based materials and plastic, glass and aluminum. It also composts upwards of 25 gallons of food waste each day.

Murray didn’t know about the ordinance; the business recycles and composts by choice.

In the 19 years since the ordinance’s inception, the city has not lowered the 15 percent minimum threshold.

Joplin said 15 percent was a good place to start, but in 2016, it should change.

“At this point we don’t want to continue to be allowing businesses to landfill up to 15 percent of their waste stream that’s recyclable just because it’s below that 15 percent de minimis,” he said.

The state has set a goal of reaching a 75 percent recycling rate by 2020. Joplin said Gainesville might not reach this year’s goal of 60 percent recycling.

That’s tricky to estimate, though.

Garbage pickup for businesses is a free enterprise system, he said, so the city receives recycling estimates from multiple haulers. Allowing businesses to use different recycling systems and companies makes it harder for Gainesville officials to accurately measure how well the city is recycling.

But Irby said expanding recycling regulations might upset local business owners.

“You’ll get some folks going to commissioners and talking about how we’re hurting business and all this good stuff,” he said.

“It’s not really about fining people. We’re not interested in doing that. We just want people to recycle.” •

26 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

What Businesses Are Recycling

We surveyed 40 restaurants, bars, clothing stores and grocery stores to determine their recycling habits.

Paper (15%)

Neither (20%)

Plastic (10%)

Both (55%) in a seperate survey, of 32 businesses asked

66%

ACROSS THE BOARD

did not know about the ordinance

Local businesses

77%

recycle Corporate businesses

90%

recycle

of restaurants surveyed...

2/13 donate food 2/13 compost 9/13 recycle plastic, aluminum & glass

11/13 recycle paper & cardboard This is a small sample size, and so not perfectly representative of Gainesville recycling.

But by concentrating mostly on popular restaurants and bars downtown, we hoped to give a sense of that area.

TOGETHER WE

STAND The story of how a group of local activists came together to confront a national corporation.

BY KYLE GIEST ILLUSTRATION BY ANERI PANDYA

Spring 2016 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | 27

FEATURE

O

n her drive to work one day in the summer of 2014, a bright green lawn sign caught Lori Wiggins’ eye. The same sign, she saw, stuck out of several neighbors’ lawns, each with a circle slashed through over the words “Plum Creek’s Plan.”

When she took to the Internet to investigate, what she found made her heart sink: Plum Creek Timber Corporation, the largest landowner in Alachua County, was planning a 6,000-acre urban development to be built in her family’s and friends’ rural backyards.

At 54 years old, Higgins wasn’t particularly familiar with Facebook. But she knew it was a way for people to connected.

That night, she logged in and created a group. The title shouted in all caps to the Internet at large: “WHO IS PLUM CREEK AND WHY DO THEY WANT TO DEVELOP OUR BACKYARD?”

P

lum Creek Timber Company Inc. is one of the largest private landowners in the U.S., owning 6.3 million acres of timberlands in 19 states. The bulk of its business is harvesting trees and converting them into lumber, but it has also pursued a number of real estate development projects across the country. Each follows a similar pattern: Convince local governments to grant development rights on large swathes of rural timberlands; market the timberlands, now with a much higher monetary value, to potential buyers such as developers; then sell the land in parcels with a high profit margin.

Plum Creek arrived in Florida in 2001 when it merged with the timber division of Georgia Pacific, a company owned by

28 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

Koch Industries. In the process, it acquired land holdings in Florida — about 85,000 acres of which were in Alachua County, most east of Newnans Lake. For nearly a decade, Plum Creek used its newly acquired land in Alachua County in the same way as its timberlands across the country: grow trees and harvest them for timber production, sometimes selling off parcels.

In 2011 the company hired MIG Inc. and Sasaki Associates Inc. — planning and design firms based in Berkeley and Boston — to launch a development project called Envision Alachua.

Plum Creek’s Envision Alachua employees kicked off the project by selecting 29 members of the community — almost all of whom were the heads of their businesses or organizations — to create a task force, which met that July to discuss the development’s vision in a public meeting. They hosted workshops where they invited the community to share their visions for the future of Alachua County.

Through these meetings, Plum Creek’s officials identified three key issues in the community: the economic disparity between East and West Gainesville, the growing economic competition from other regions and a lack of funding for conservation.

After two years of task force meetings and workshops, the company finally submitted its sector plan to the county commission for approval in December 2013. The plan included converting 11,000 acres of their rural property — scattered with wetlands, floodplains and small rural communities — into residential and industrial land.

Eventually, this would make way for the development of 10,500 homes and 14 million square feet of commercial and industrial

space.

The plan also addressed issues the task force had discussed during the meetings and workshops, said Tim Jackson, Plum Creek’s director of real estate. Regarding concerns over conserving the environment, Envision Alachua’s plan would put 25,000 acres into conservation and reduce water usage by 50 percent in the planned residential homes in return for the development.

Not only that, the proposed development would create large job centers, which Jackson said could help reduce poverty and unemployment in East Gainesville.

“UF needs major employers in town for whom they can do research,” he said, adding that the plan’s proposed job centers would be big enough to attract these large corporations to the Gainesville area and diversify the local economy.

“Plum Creek’s success in getting the master plan approved could potentially bring the economic breakthrough for which we’ve been waiting nearly 40 years,” wrote Albert E. White, a local consultant for Plum Creek, in a 2013 op-ed for The Gainesville Sun. “This is a vision that could develop economic, conservation and community prosperity in east Gainesville and eastern Alachua County.”

C

ounty Commissioner Mike Byerly had watched from the sidelines as Envision Alachua courted the community for two years. When the group submitted its plan to the commission in December, everything he had objected to landed on his desk, ready for his perusal.

That evening, he took it to a local Sierra Club meeting.

Byerly objected to Envision

FEATURE Alachua’s plan for a number of reasons, the primary being that it contradicted an already existent plan, which had been adopted two years prior: The Alachua County Comprehensive Plan.

The 432-page document mapped out how the county should grow over the next 20 years and had taken nearly a decade to wrestle into place, Byerly said, after 207 public meetings, workshops and forums that included both local government and citizen advisory groups like the Builders Association of North Central Florida and the Sierra Club.

“In the end, a plan emerged that a politically diverse county commission could vote into law,” Byerly said, “even if those on opposite ends of the political spectrum had to hold their noses to do it.”

Envision Alachua’s plan, he said, aimed to develop land miles outside the comprehensive plan’s urban growth boundary, which had been created to prevent development from sprawling into rural areas. It also disregarded several of the plan’s environmental protection policies, which could affect hundreds of acres of wetlands and strategic ecosystems.

The plan’s environmental impact made going to the Sierra Club, a national environmental organization, the obvious choice.

But Byerly had someone in mind.

Scott Camil, a member of the club’s executive committee and Byerly’s longtime friend, was exactly the person who could kickstart a counter-campaign.

A two-time purple heart Vietnam veteran, Camil has the straight-backed demeanor and dogged commitment of a person who has never forgotten his time as a platoon sergeant. He’s best known as one of the Gainesville Eight, a group of anti-war activists whom the government attempted

to frame for conspiracy in the ‘70s. His Wikipedia page is fairly sizable. His ponytail is impressive.

“I’m a mission-oriented person,” he said. “In the Marine Corps, they teach you how to accomplish your mission.”

After listening to Byerly explain the Envision Alachua sector plan, Camil and the rest of the Sierra Club’s executive committee formed an independent, volunteer citizen group of local activists called Stand By Our Plan, referencing

“From the beginning,” Camil said, “our mission

has been to educate the public and change the narrative that

Plum Creek has been telling the community.” the county’s comprehensive plan that Envision Alachua aimed to override. The activists created a rudimentary HTML website and packed it with information about Plum Creek, directly linking to the plans written by Envision Alachua and Alachua County so visitors could compare them. They also explained how the comprehensive plan could be amended and shaped by the community, along with maps of the wetlands, floodplains and strategic ecosystems on Plum Creek’s proposed development area.

“From the beginning,” Camil said, “our mission has been to educate the public and change the narrative that Plum Creek has been telling the community.”

F

rank and Susan Morey live on 30 acres of open, grassy land ringed by pine and cypress trees in eastern Alachua County. And across a fence at the south end of their property, Plum Creek’s land begins.

In the spring of 2014, Frank and Susan found an article in the Gainesville Sun announcing a community workshop hosted

by Envision Alachua. Noticing that the plan affected land close to their home, they attended the next scheduled workshop. Not satisfied with the Envision Alachua representatives’ evasive answers to his and his wife’s questions, on April 13 Frank drafted a letter to the county commission expressing opposition to Plum Creek. He organized 40 people from the surrounding rural communities to sign the letter.

Camil came across Frank’s letter while combing through backlogs of county emails, something he does fairly often. He gave Frank a call, and the two ex-Marines quickly hit it off — but Camil got to the point.

Stand By Our Plan had already created an organized foundation, he said. Joining together would benefit both groups: It would give rural citizens’ complaints a bigger voice, and Stand By Our Plan could reach residents who would see the most drastic changes.

Meanwhile, Wiggins’ Facebook group was growing. Over 100 people in the rural areas of Alachua County had joined the group since its inception that summer, and it buzzed with activity. People posted at least once a day, sharing everything from information about Plum Creek’s projects in other states to Envision Alachua

Spring 2016 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | 29

FEATURE meeting dates and times to their experiences at those meetings.

Then Wiggins got a call from Camil, too. He’d heard about her group from other Stand By Our Plan members and wanted to know if she would post some information he sent to her. Stand

By Our Plan had a presence on Facebook, but as a page it didn’t offer a forum for people to post their own content or start conversations. More and more, Stand By Our Plan Members started using Wiggins’ Facebook group to talk with each other, including Camil, until at 656 members it became the primary platform through which the activists communicated.

“Lori, thanks for starting this page,” one member posted in February, above a candid iPhone photo of a grinning Wiggins.

“Even through all of the ups and downs you always have a ready smile and a willingness to listen.”

I

n order for a development plan to be approved, especially one proposing a change or diversion from the county’s comprehensive plan, it has to first go through the county’s Office of Growth Management, headed

by Steve Lachnicht. Though the office doesn’t have a final say in the plan’s approval or denial, its analysis, and ultimately its recommendation for how to proceed, is forwarded to the county commissioners for their consideration.

After more than 2,000 hours of research and analysis, Lachnicht and his staff recommended that the county commission deny Envision Alachua’s plan, and they offered a 137-page report to back their decision. Their reasoning echoed many of Stand

By Our Plan’s complaints. First, the growth management staff concluded that Envision Alachua’s planned development would 30 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

“When you as

a citizen lobby, it’s your time,

your expense,”

said Jim Dick, a

Stand By Our Plan member.

“When Plum Creek does it,

they do it with paid employees.” not preserve the rural character of Windsor, Campville, Grove Park and Rochelle — the rural communities that the Moreys and Wiggins had been concerned about. Second, the plan would take away the commission’s authority to oversee what would happen to the area’s wetlands and allow for 400 acres of those wetlands to be filled without county review. Finally, Envision Alachua’s plan hardly considered the resources needed to create an entire urban infrastructure from the ground up.

Envision Alachua withdrew its initial application in the wake of the office’s non-endorsement and submitted it again in the summer of 2015 with a few minor changes. The new plan called for two urban mixed-use job centers, both bordering Lochloosa Creek between Newnans Lake and US Route 301. The new “city” would be more than double the size of UF’s campus and allow for 8,700 residential homes and 11 million square feet of commercial/ industrial facilities. And, once again, the Department of Growth Management recommended

denial on the same grounds.

Envision Alachua continued to promote the plan without Growth Management’s approval, using public events and opeds submitted to The Sun to describe it as a community vision that balanced environmental conservation and economic development. It was capable of generating 30,000 jobs over a 50year time period, they argued, while also preserving thousands of acres of land designated for permanent conservation (though that designation still allows for timber production).

Stand By Our Plan worked to spread its message, too. Over the course of a year, Byerly gave at least one public presentation a month, going to church events, neighborhood meetings, anywhere he could get time to speak in eastern Alachua County, and staying after to answer questions about Plum Creek and what its plan could mean for the community.

The group raised $36,000 by members reaching into their own pockets; Camil, having been a local organizer for decades, called up friends in his network who had donated to political campaigns in the past. All this went toward printing the notorious lawn signs that had caught Higgins’ attention, as well as T-shirts and bumper stickers, all with the intention of getting people to investigate Plum Creek.

Plum Creek, on the other hand, had spent several million dollars on the creation and execution of Envision Alachua, said Jackson, Plum Creek’s director of real estate. According to the list of registered lobbyists in Alachua County, 19 out of 30 are employed by Plum Creek to lobby on its behalf. Most are from local and out-of-town public relations, engineering, design and law firms, but a few are local

FEATURE residents. The lobbyists regularly sat down with commissioners, detailing how Envision Alachua would help the local economy.

“When you as a citizen lobby, it’s your time, your expense,” said Jim Dick, a Stand By Our Plan member.

“When Plum Creek does it, they do it with paid employees.”

Stand By Our Plan members also spent time pointing out the logical flaws in the East Gainesville argument. First, Byerly said, East Gainesville is more than 10 miles from the edge of Plum Creek’s proposed development area and 20 miles from where the jobs would be located.

Second, the highest concentrations of poverty in the county are in areas surrounded by new growth, like those west of Interstate 75.

“Growth in itself clearly does not reduce poverty or unemployment or economic disparity, even when it’s literally next door,” he said. “Real improvement requires upward wage pressure without incoming residents wiping out the net gains, and it has little to do with growth. The wrong kind of growth doesn’t make us better, it just makes us bigger.

“In all the years I’ve been in government,” Byerly continued, “it’s the same circle of people expressing concern about poverty and economic injustice and trying to doing something through public policy.

Suddenly, with Plum Creek, there were new faces. And they were only concerned about it so far as it affected Plum Creek.”

E

veryone knows each other at Stand By Our Plan meetings.

After two years of working closely together, the gatherings have an air of camaraderie, or at least familiarity.

Frank, whose humor is both dry and constant, prompts ripples of laughter.

There are usually snacks. At a recent meeting, 15 members sat on chairs dragged from the dining room and on the plump maroon couches at Camil’s house, planning for the county

commission meetings in February that would decide the plan’s fate.

In the weeks after, they would email the listservs, send out information to their mailing lists, table everywhere they could. Their goal was to get as many citizens as possible to speak against the plan during public comment.

And then there is Katy Davis.

At the Stand By Our Plan meetings, Davis is restless and quick to express her thoughts, sometimes by rolling her eyes at stray comments, sometimes by bursting into passionate declarations.

She left Philadelphia in 2006, when her rent doubled after speculators started planning a development project in her neighborhood — a project led by Sasaki, one of the firms behind Envision Alachua. She chose rural Hawthorne, she said, to escape the constant development game.

“You don’t have to be smart to see what’s happening here,” she said. “You just have to have experienced it before.

Most people out here haven’t.”

Davis took a vigilante approach to getting the word out. She and her beat-up blue pickup traveled across Hawthorne and its surrounding rural communities, where she knocked on as many doors as possible to personally tell people about the meetings. She

“If you voted against Plum Creek tonight, you’re going to have a pro-Plum Creek candidate running against you,” he said. “That’s a given.”

visited at least 10 homes in a day.

When she spoke to older women, her demeanor softened (she’d drop the profanities); when she spoke to pastors, she’d tie in religion; during church services, she’d sing until the end to speak to the congregation.

And when talking about Envision Alachua, she would whip herself into a frenzy.

“The way [Plum Creek officials] treat people in person is shocking,” she said, breathless and nearly shouting.

“A combination of pandering, insults and classism.”

A

ware that she was between jobs and struggling to pay her bills, Stand By Our Plan members helped pay for some of Davis’ gas for her door-to-door crusade. Without Internet at home, she would take her old Blackberry to places with Wi-Fi to read through documents and post information on the Facebook group. She, Wiggins and the Moreys Xeroxed fliers by hand.

These efforts resulted in packed rooms when the meetings began in February. Over 250 people from the Alachua County community offered public comment — an unprecedented turnout, Byerly said.

The commissioners had scheduled two meetings, but due to the number of people who wanted to speak, they had to add two more. Over 75 percent of public comment was in opposition.

The Facebook group went crazy.

“I have been very deeply touched by the comments of those of you who came to Eastside High School this week to speak out against the Envision Alachua Sector Plan,” someone posted. “Some of you told stories while others gave impassioned pleas to save our way of life and the environment of East Alachua County.

Some of you made me laugh, and some of you made me cry. Others made me think and consider things I had not thought about before and all of you made me proud to be a resident of Alachua County. Thank you all.

Spring 2016 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | 31

FEATURE There is a sense of community in Alachua County today which did not exist last week.”

But the final meeting, scheduled for the first day of March, would decide everything.

A

bout 140 people sat, rapt and hushed, as the county commissioners deliberated at the front of the room.

People wearing green Stand By Our Plan shirts speckled the audience, including Camil, who kept his eyes trained on the commissioners, expressionless.

Although the final meeting was reserved solely for the commissioners to speak, Camil had encouraged Stand By Our Plan members to come all the same.

Make them look you in the eye when they vote on this, he said.

The commissioners had 30 minutes each to present their comments, and for the most part they expressed why they supported or opposed the plan under review.

Commissioner Hutch Hutchinson, however, used his time to present a compromise that would consolidate Envision Alachua’s interests and Stand By Our Plan’s arguments — a land swap centered around Tacachale, a developmental disability center, that could provide the jobs Envision Alachua had been promoting without dissolving the urban growth boundary set in place by the

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county’s comprehensive plan.

When it came time to vote, Byerly made the first motion to deny Envision Alachua’s plan. As had been expected, commissioners Lee Pinkoson and Charles Chestnut motioned to approve; Cornell motioned to deny.

Everything came down to Hutchinson.

Byerly leaned toward the microphone, shooting a look across the table toward Hutchinson.

“Since you are now the man in the middle, Mr. Chair,” Byerly said, “and we’re all waiting to see how you’re going to shake out on this: Tacachale is a great idea, and I will gladly support you in your effort to try to make it happen…If you tie it to a ‘no’ vote, I will certainly work with you to try to make it happen. If you tie it to a ‘yes’ vote, I believe you are very clearly surrendering the little leverage we might have in that process to make it a reality in the future.”

Some moments passed before Hutchinson spoke.

“I’m going to make a motion to not transmit this,” Hutchinson said, and the crowd erupted into applause that turned into a standing ovation.

Camil allowed himself a moment to smile.

A

fter the denial, the Facebook page exploded with activity. People wrote out their thanks to Camil, Wiggins, Davis, the Moreys and others for their work. One member posted a video of the moment Hutchinson voted to deny. (Davis posted “VICTORY!!!!” above the photo of a cartoon middle finger.)

“It’s nice to be able to take a breath,” one commenter wrote, posting a video of Jacksonville jam band JJ Grey & Mofro’s song “The Sun is Shining Down.”

But Camil and others understand that while they won this battle, their fight against Plum Creek isn’t over.

They’ve discussed the possibility that Envision Alachua could resubmit the plan successfully if only one county commission seat flips in favor of Plum Creek. Knowing this, James Thompson, a member of Stand By Our Plan, shook his head during the revelatory aftermath of the vote.

“If you voted against Plum Creek tonight, you’re going to have a pro-Plum Creek candidate running against you,” he said. “That’s a given.”

Though Hutchinson is currently running unopposed, Byerly will run against Kevin Thorpe, an Envision Alachua task force member, in the upcoming democratic primary.

They also have to deal with a new issue: Plum Creek was bought by another timber corporation, Weyerhaeuser, earlier this year — and the name change could potentially confuse community residents.

But Camil remains undeterred.

“The director of Plum Creek in Gainesville told me, ‘Scott, we’re not going anywhere,’” Camil said. “I told him, ‘Neither are we.’” •

FEATURE

A DIVORCE FROM THE STREETS

One woman’s story surviving human trafficking in Gainesville.

BY ASHLEY LOMBARDO ILLUSTRATIONS BY SAMANTHA SCHUYLER & SYDNEY MARTIN

Spring 2016 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | 33

B

efore beginning the search for easy clientele, Doug “D.T.” Russell prepped Brittany Michaels*. He trained her on the basics of talking money.

The language of the streets is something he learned from his mother.

The pair canvassed Barrington Ridge, a southwest Gainesville neighborhood.

Brittany knocked on doors, ready to make a quick buck. D.T. stood behind her.

Finally, someone opened their door.

“What’s up? Any business?” Brittany asked, tousling her hair.

“Sí mami, sí mami,” the stranger said.

He grinned and eyed the 19-year-old.

He moved aside to let Brittany and D.T. into the two-bedroom trailer that housed eight undocumented men from Mexico. The air smelled of spiced beef and soaked corn husks that would soon be molded into tamales.

“Can I use your bathroom?” Brittany asked, needing a few minutes alone before getting started. She weaved through piles of dirty work boots and sweat-drenched long sleeve shirts strewn across the floor.

Brittany locked the door and perched on the toilet, opening a small plastic sack.

She withdrew the last piece of crack from her stash and loaded it into a smokestained pipe. In less than a minute, she felt the rush.

Perking up, she left the bathroom and followed the first customer into a shared bedroom. She sprawled her 105-pound frame across the twin bed, laying flat on her back. Despite her inexperience, she refused to bend over. She needed to see the condom for herself.

In the other room, D.T. made himself comfortable on the couch. The young man drank a beer while she worked. His presence alone provided an air of protection, but Brittany had no problem clocking anyone who tried to pin her down.

“Wait,” she said to the stranger, stopping him as he began to remove his shirt. “Cash first.”

Less than three minutes later, the man left the room, zipping his fly. He tipped a paint-splattered hat to his roommate before the next in line rose to take his place. The routine continued as one after the other took their turns.

After the last man had been serviced, Brittany headed out with D.T., who asked her how much she made in the half hour.

Brittany pulled the cash from her bra and fanned out 15 crumpled twenty dollar bills.

“Damn, baby, $300. Good work,” D.T. said, hugging her tight. “Now let’s go get that rock.

Brittany is one of the many trafficking survivors held by the invisible chains of coercion. Twelve years of sex work and more than 50 arrests later, the 31-year-old enrolled in a local rehabilitation program, found a minimum-wage job at a fast food restaurant and is learning how to minister.

Despite her efforts, a criminal record makes it difficult to finalize her divorce from the streets. Like a lot of older survivors, she’s not eligible for government help because the majority of resources are allocated to minors. She’s never the first pick for a new job because most employers turn away applicants with records.

But, most importantly, she’s rarely recognized as a victim.

After years in the dark, local advocates, law enforcement and government programs identified a number of factors that draw and tether someone to human trafficking. Alongside histories of early abuse, pimps, also known as handlers, play on an individual’s vulnerabilities and build a bond with him or her to gain control. This, experts say, is the cycle of abuse.

Something Missing

W

hen Brittany was in elementary school, her mother worked long hours at three jobs. The family had a history of mood disorders, and it became difficult for the single mother to find common ground with her only child.

Small arguments escalated quickly.

On bad days, she readied herself for the slap that would flash like a burn across her cheek. It didn’t take long for the 9-year-old to learn how to hit back.

After one blowout, Brittany was dropped off at her grandparents’ house.

She plopped in front of the TV, burying the feeling that she had been discarded.

*Name has been changed to protect her identity.

Months would pass before the two would speak again.

Aside from church outings and movie nights, Brittany’s family kept her confined in their home. Her grandmother took her to the mall, but she grew sick of shoeshopping. Eventually, she had enough shoes.

Brittany also spent time with her 24-year-old uncle, Brian. He visited once a week, showing interest in the now 10-year-old girl. Most days, the pair strolled through the woods and down to the lake. They sat on the dock, smoked cigarettes and watched people ride Jet Skis.

One afternoon, when the lake was empty, Brian looked at Brittany. Each finger, one by one, crept toward her.

Slowly, he reached out and stroked her freckled cheek.

He pulled her closer and kissed her.

Then he paused. He looked up and fingered the straps on her tank top. She kissed back.

A few months later, Brittany lost her virginity to a 16-year-old boy. She skipped class to smoke weed and drink beer. Law enforcement labeled her a truant.

So she ran away. She moved in with an 18-year-old boyfriend. At 14, trying to fulfill the expectations of feminine domesticity, she cooked, cleaned and hosted dinner guests.

One night, when her boyfriend and his friends bit into undercooked chicken, her youth became more evident. It was her first time making fried chicken, and the golden brown breading had obscured the raw, pink meat inside.

Most women in the sex industry were subjected to abuse or neglect as children, which can fundamentally influence their trajectories in life, said Sherry Kitchens, director of Gainesville’s Child Advocacy

FEATURE Center. She said while some kids are studying for a learner’s permit, others are focusing on finding their next meal.

“They are in a cycle of survival,” Kitchens said, “and the skills that they’ve learned are about that, rather than daily living and daily functioning in a normative situation.”

Kitchens has worked with ungovernable and truant children throughout her career. It took years, she said, for her to recognize that young girls labeled as troublemakers were actually lured into trafficking by more covert means than kidnapping or physical restraint. She and others — like law enforcement and government officials — came to realize that victims had been vulnerable for a long time.

“Being loved and cherished and cared for, the confidence that you build in your development as a child, they missed that somewhere,” Kitchens said.

“A parent was absent, there wasn’t enough resources in the family for everyone to get their needs met… there’s a lot of reasons.”

“I Have Somebody That Takes Care Of Me”

B

rittany squabbled with D.T., and sometimes it got rough. She would let men suck on her toes and call her a “dirty bitch” during the day because that night D.T. would pick up fresh rock.

He left Brittany in the car while he negotiated a deal.

Brittany hit the pipe a few times while D.T. drove home. The two slept in cars, pulled tricks and pawned stolen lawn equipment; but this week, the pair rented a room at a hotel on 13th Street.

Brittany collapsed on the bed. The energy she amassed from a five-day crack binge dwindled fast. She peeled off her clothes. D.T. lifted the sheet and slid in behind her.

“I love you,” D.T. whispered, as he cocooned her body and soul.

Before she crashed, Brittany reminded herself, “I’m high, I have somebody that takes care of me.” As long she did, it would be OK. With little money to support their habit, Brittany and D.T. lived a life of crime. It was a mutual effort to survive.

Trick, rob, smoke, crash, repeat. That’s the priority; that’s the mentality. That’s the cycle.

“I assure you there is not one active prostitute who chose that,” said Jennifer Beagle, director of a local women’s rehabilitation program. “She was influenced that this is OK, this is what you want, this will make you good money, this will provide for you.”

Experts like Kitchens call them Romeo pimps, and they use affection as a tool. Some men may start out as boyfriends, or even husbands, before suggesting sex work. They might select girls from social media profiles or sleuth around bus stations for runaways. They might have children with the women they profit from.

“It became an abuse thing, because they would lash out on me for [sex work],” Brittany remembered. “They still expected me to do it, but they hated that I did it. They hated themselves because they made me do it.”

And people can be manipulated or coerced through their drug addictions.

In some cases, a man who keeps crack in her pipe, clothes on her back and a roof over her head will own her. Gifts like perfume and jewelry are also common.

But she believed they loved her. And at the end of the day the ultimate goal, Brittany said, was to be loved.

“Intimacy will make that woman feel like she’s a queen,” Brittany said.

“You don’t want to give that up.”

One Of The Lucky Ones

D

.T. protected Brittany, and she never questioned his loyalty.

Once, he soaked a rag in a bottle of cheap vodka, held a lighter to it and aimed it at another man’s car.

No one dared to threaten her again.

She remained with D.T. until police officers uncovered the ring of stolen lawn equipment and sentenced him to prison for grand theft. The court released Brittany, a first offender, on probation.

She floated for a bit, working without a pimp and hopping from relationship to relationship with different men. She learned how to jump in and out of cars from a career prostitute in her 50s named Mom, who timed Brittany’s tricks. It took about 10 minutes for Brittany to ride around the block and return with $40.

A few years passed, and she decided against independent work. It was hard to make it on her own or with other women, who sometimes formed allfemale unions. It was hard to keep her hotel bill paid. It was hard to finish school. It was hard because she smoked her money.

After an argument with a man named Wolf, Brittany dipped out and marched off down the street. That’s when Corey pulled up.

“Is that Britty Baby? What’s up, girl? You lookin’ real tired,” Corey shouted, rolling down the window.

“Come with me and I’ll give you somewhere to lie down,” he said. “You need to get off them feet.”

Corey had been a good customer.

He always paid upfront and was generous with drugs, so Brittany stepped into the vehicle.

Within an hour, she had a new phone, a pack of cigarettes, a sack of dope and a place to stay.

He had someone drive Brittany and two others to Ocala to pull tricks. Brittany gave him every bit of profit.

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He and his aids — women who didn’t use drugs or do sex work and mainly drove him around — fronted money for the hotel.

In most situations, he made her refer to him as “her peoples” to show his ownership.

Corey and his partner slept on the hotel’s pull-out couch and allowed Brittany to sleep in the bed. If she wanted to leave, she had to pass him to reach the exit.

She stayed with him for two months, until she began to see the signs. Once, stuck in a crack coma, Brittany vomited on herself and the couch. He ripped her off the sofa, threw her onto the ground, and made her mop it up. If she didn’t, he said, there would be consequences.

Brittany didn’t have to clean or cook, but once, she took Corey’s dog — which Brittany remembers was named Princess — for a walk. Princess, a white pitbull mix with black spots and glassy blue eyes, attracted attention from a neighbor.

“Hey, your dog is beautiful, what’s her name? Is she friendly? I love pitbulls,” he asked, kneeling down to pet her. Corey watched them from the window. A few minutes later, he and Brittany were nose-tonose.

“What, you tryin’ to help him steal my dog?” he said, yanking her hair and slinging her down on the porch.

“No, he was just asking a question,” she said, pleading.

Towering over her crumpled form on the concrete, he held a gun to her temple and said, “If my dog gets stolen, bitch, I’m gonna kill you.”

Later that week, the police picked Brittany up and arrested her. Corey didn’t pay her bail.

She was free. She was one of the lucky ones.

Corey, who never showed remorse, abused more than 49 women who testified at his trial. A court sentenced him to 25 years in federal prison for human trafficking in 36 | T H E F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

January.

“He was one of the most violent traffickers around here. He pled guilty to human trafficking targeting older girls,” said Jeff Vash, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent. “There’s a lot of older girls that had been abused early on, and this is their life now.”

First, Romeo pimps sniff out someone with vulnerabilities. Then, they build a relationship by filling a void or need, Kitchens said.

On the other hand, Gorilla pimping — characterized by grisly, physically abusive behaviors — can sometimes develop over time. It’s a seesaw of reward and punishment that creates a trauma bond centered around attachment and fear.

“He was very charming at first, but he’s just evil,” Brittany said. “I don’t know how he kept me for so long, but he makes it to where you don’t know how to leave.”

Making The Invisible Visible

F

out back of Five Star because you know at midnight, when they close, they’re going to throw the pizza in the garbage dump, and you get to eat tonight,” she said.

Like many sex workers, her homelessness stretched on for eight years. It’s part of a vicious cycle caused by toxic thinking developed at a young age, Jennifer said. All this can seem normal, she said, because you haven’t known anything else.

Sometimes, it just takes someone to reach out and care. When Brittany was on the streets, a local ministry called Created approached her. Alison Ungaro, the ministry’s leader, gifted her a Bible, which she has kept to this day. They kept in touch over the course of three years. Ungaro visited her in jail.

Encouragement and support are key, Jennifer said, but the healing process truly starts when survivors learn to look at their past in a new way. One of the first things she teaches is that a pimp is not a boyfriend.

But even if victims return to their pimps, not yet convinced that they were in an exploitative situation, they’re always welcomed back.

“I’ll take you 100 times if I have to,” Jennifer said. “We have a God of endless chances, and if you’re not dead, and I’m not dead, there’s a purpose.”

Even after escaping human trafficking, victims must still fight for survival. Holding on to a home and a steady life pose constant challenges. Securing a solid income is difficult because most companies don’t employ people with criminal records.

Trish Kearney, intern at House of Hope, believes employers need to give these women a chance. She said they need to look past their criminal history, so they can live a life free from victimization. If not, they’re more likely to relapse into the life they knew.

“Having that job not only gives them the ability to take care of themselves, but also gives them a sense of pride. Somebody’s accepting them,” Kearney said. “When they get that chance, they’re not going to take it for granted.”

or most people, human trafficking is an enigma. It’s hard to comprehend and even harder to recognize — except for those who have experienced it.

Jennifer Beagle directs one of the few rehab centers dedicated to vulnerable women in Gainesville. One Wednesday afternoon in January, she burst through the doors of House of Hope, a modest four-bedroom residence on East University Avenue, armed with a Mentos-white smile and a cheerful authority.

“Hey everyone, sorry I’m late,” Jennifer said, dropping a few bags on the computer desk in the foyer. “There’s so much to do and never enough time, but we keep it going, of course.”

Jennifer, a mother to five adopted children, one biological child and an endless number of women, is no stranger to the challenges of beating the cycle.

“You can’t do anything without a helping hand. You need accountability, you need relationships. You need strong friendships,” Jennifer said. “You need people who believe in you up front.”

A Fresh Start An addict for over two decades, she’s accumulated a slew of charges that range n a Wednesday evening, House from cocaine possession to writing worthless of Hope residents gathered for checks. group therapy. The women, “You don’t know what it’s like to sleep ranging in age from college freshman to

O

mid-life, settled among the two couches, waiting for Mama Jenn. A wax burner on the end table radiated a fragrant glow.

Brittany and another resident, Lena, spread out on the carpet, reclined against the sofa base and shared a bag of Doritos.

The house cat, Leroy, wove between the two as they jokingly shooed him away.

Earlier in the week, Jennifer, who read the Bible 14 times while training to become a minister, hand-picked the scripture for the study.

Leroy selected a spot near a portable heater, lounging a few feet from the bookshelf that held Daily Christ and Mosby’s Dictionary of Medicine. A bottom shelf was packed with games like Apples to Apples and Trivial Pursuit.

The study touched on one verse, Matthew 5:6-7, that always stood out to her.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

The translations in the King James Version differed slightly from the American Standard Version, so each person read their

passage aloud. She focused on the deeper meaning of each word.

When asked about integrity, Alice, an ex-resident who isn’t ready to move back into the house but joins the group occasionally, perked up.

“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking,” Alice said. “I know that one.

“I’m so tired,” Alice added, holding the attention. “My body and my soul are so tired.”

The women console one another in a way that only survivors understand, but after a few moments of “Amen” and agreement, Jennifer shifts the conversation back to the Bible.

At the end of the session, Jennifer called for the women to pray for Alice. Jennifer placed a chair in the center of the room for Alice to sit in, and all the women surrounded her, closing their eyes and placing their palms on Alice’s body.

Through their fingertips, they pressed a collective force of strength.

Alice began to cry. After a few minutes she rose, looking restored.

In that moment, they knew that together they could grow. Together, they would beat

FEATURE

this.

After the session ended, Brittany teased Lena and stroked Leroy’s fur. She went outside to smoke a cigarette. When she came back, she sat down on the couch. She began to speak.

“I am a survivor. I am a survivor of everything I’ve had to deal with. I’ve learned the best way to deal,” she said, then laughed.

“Sometimes the best way to deal has not always been the legal way.”

Because of her record, and because she has to disclose her arrests, Brittany and other victims have a hard time finding stability.

But it’s not in her nature to give up.

Instead, she’s looking forward. She hopes to pay off her debt to Santa Fe Community College, finish school Internet service technology and become a minister.

“Every time I’ve had a relapse, it’s because something major has happened in my life and I just want to run away from the feelings because feeling that pain or that hurt — I didn’t want to go through that,” Brittany said. She paused for a minute.

“I have a situation that is going on that’s really serious, and I’m dealing with it in this house,” she said.

“I’m not running away.” •

An Imam in Paris after Rifa’a Rafi’ al-Tahtawi, 1826

POETRY

Untitled 2, RAY TORRES

38| T H E F I N E P R I N T | thefineprintmag.org

BY PD ROBERTS The roofs here are sloped so they don’t collapse.

It rains here incessantly — the locals laugh, “Paris in spring!”

You should know when they finish their work, they don’t get involved in devotion.

They indulge in dancing, opéra, wine (though they have fewer words for wine than Arabs!), without imagining hidden meanings. As for wine houses, they are innumerable. Only the riff-raff and their women gather there. One day as I walked, a drunk grabbed my shirt, embracing me, calling, “Turk! Turk!” I sat him down in a sweetshop, and, joking, asked the owner to trade.

“This isn’t your country,” he jabbed, “Here you can’t dispose of the human species at your will.”

“This drunk is not part of the human race,” I replied. The loving drunk snored softly in his chair.

I left him there. Again it rained.

I walked along the Seine, its water rising in the storm. In a few months the Nile will flood again, as it has since creation, as it will until al-sā'ah. In a few months I will still be in Paris.

POETRY

Little Foxes, SHANNON NEHILEY

Scenes From New Wave Coffee

BY PD ROBERTS Everyone’s dithering decisively on the philosophy of their start-ups drinking paper-tasting coffee out of coffee-colored cups.

The shelves are full of peanut butter; the freezer is all milk.

When asked for help, the staff just mutter, and twirl a dishrag made of silk.

The walls are worn with unintended windows, conflating character and damage— a breeze between bricks; a home for crows; a rookery for lost and famished.

There is no back nor blocked-off space; the watchword is transparency.

I can’t handle having only one face— I take my coffee with conspiracy.

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