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Tuesday, April 21, 2026

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A student is seen biking through the Plaza of the Americas during the rainy morning of Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
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‘Rainesville’: Overused pun or a real weather pattern? Experts say ‘a little bit of both’

Anyone who stays in Gainesville for more than a few days will probably see rain. Anyone who stays in Gainesville a few minutes after that rain starts will inevitably hear someone call the city “Rainesville.” UF students often believe — perhaps due to the inescapability of the “Rainesville” pun — that its frequent showers make Gainesville wetter than other Florida cities. But though Gainesville does rain often, it doesn’t stand out in Florida, which is a rainy state in general, said UF geography professor Esther Mullens.


Crowds gather at Bradenton Beach on Friday, March 15, 2024.
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Crime, trash and parties: How Florida residents feel about spring break

As spring break kicked off, college students rushed to Florida beaches for a week of partying and relaxation. But the idyllic image of spring break fails to resonate with everyone. Beaches are left littered, crime spikes and excessive partying disrupts some students who are looking for a laid back beach day at home.


Tenders, one of UF’s campus cats, gazes upward as she sits on a table in the Tolbert Area.
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Beloved UF cat Tenders returns home after brief campus ‘cat-napping’

Tenders, the famed brown and white tabby who takes shelter at the UF Tolbert Area, returned home safe after being found four miles away at Cabana Bay apartments Thursday.  At 1:56 p.m. Thursday, she was retrieved by Emma Van Riper, a 21-year-old UF political science junior; Eden Kershner, a 20-year-old UF materials science and engineering sophomore; and Dr. Tina Tallon, a UF College of the Arts professor. 


Jonathan Pearson, Hailey Pham and Mags Penza play cards while Fernando Guillen studies at Marston Science Library on Sunday, March 3, 2024.
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UF eliminates diversity: What’s known and what remains unclear

The university announced it has closed the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer and halted DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors in a memo published March 1. The university also fired 13 full-time DEI positions and ended 15 administrative appointments for faculty, according to UF Spokesperson Cynthia Roldan.


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Florida’s cell-grown meat ban leaves UF researchers divided

Called “cultivated meat” by researchers and “lab-grown meat” by critics, the alternative protein is developed directly from animal cells. Scientists collect tissue samples from live animals without killing them. Then, they allow the cells to multiply and mature in a lab before processing them into a food product.


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