Domestic violence fundraiser

A Domestic Violence Fundraiser dinner will be held Sept. 26 to kick off Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October.

The “Secret is Out” Domestic Violence Fundraiser and Unity Celebration is being put on by Marion County Children's Alliance Family Violence Prevention Workgroup. It will take place at Paddock Mall, 3100 SW College Road, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event will feature dinner, survivor testimonies, entertainment and vendors.

The event costs $20, which will benefit victims of family violence, including child abuse, dating violence, domestic violence and elder abuse, according to the violence prevention group’s website.

The organization works with the Marion County Sheriff's Department, the Ocala Police Department and judicial and juvenile justice departments to promote awareness and non-violent relationships in the community.

The group also does many collaborative projects with the city's domestic violence shelter, raising money for the shelter’s clients or donating things the shelter needs and can't provide, such as diapers, bus tickets or clothing.

Along with the Unity Celebration during domestic violence month, there will be the 10th Annual “The Secret is Out” Domestic Violence Conference Oct. 8 and From Violence to Recovery: The Path of Domestic Violence Panel Discussion Oct 28.

The conference will have speakers, workshops and free continental breakfast. The panel discussion will feature a dialogue with local experts followed by a question and answer session. Both events will be at the College of Central Florida and are free.

Monica Bryant, family violence prevention coordinator for the workgroup for four years, said she stumbled into her current job, but now she really can't see herself doing anything else.

“This is what I’m supposed to be doing,” Bryant said.

She said it's important to her that young women have healthy relationships and know unhealthy relationships can sometimes end violently. When living in a house with violence, some people don't see anything wrong with their relationship because it is no different from the house they grew up in, Bryant said.

There are about 3,000 family violence cases in Ocala a year, and last year six of the people died, Bryant said.

According to the prevention workgroup’s website, the group’s goal is to organize community programs and activities that reduce family violence and to increase involvement and awareness.

The prevention group puts on events year-round. During National Teen Dating Violence Prevention Week in February, it visits middle schools and high schools to educate students and provide resources about dating violence. Toy drives are put on by the organization every year, and public meetings are held once a month.

The group also holds an annual expo called Hands Are Not For Hurting in the Paddock Mall to “create community awareness about child abuse or neglect in our community,” according to the group’s website. It kicks off Child Abuse Prevention Month in April and features live entertainment, arts and crafts and giveaways.

The violence prevention group’s October events are sponsored by Paddock Mall, the College of Central Florida and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

The organization meets the second Monday of every month at 11 a.m. at the Marion County Sheriff's Office. The meeting is open to the public.

Unity Day Celebration tickets are available at the Marion County Children's Alliance, Greiner's, Your Heart's Desire Gifts, Gause and Son Jewelers, Gold Pros and 2nd Chance Consignment Shoppe.

Donations are also accepted. Drop off or mail to 3482 NW 10th St., Ocala, FL 34475. Visit http://www.breakthesilenceonviolence.org, e-mail info@breakthesilenceonviolence.com or call 352-438-5993 for more information.

European cooking classes now offered

The Center for European Studies at the University of Florida is now offering European cooking classes taking place at Take Away Gourmet, a shop in Gainesville that has classes, catering and meals to go.

There will be four $25 cooking classes offered in the fall, including Greece foods on Sept. 23, Poland Sept. 30, Slovakia Oct. 14 and Italy on Oct. 21. Lemon chicken, Slovak apple strudel, leek and ricotta pie are just some of the several foods students will be cooking up over the course of the classes.

A maximum of eight students will be allowed for each cooking class. Each student that comes to a class will receive the ingredients, a prepared appetizer, the final meal to eat and a copy of the cookbook used for instruction.

The Center for European Studies, celebrating its fifth anniversary, produced a cookbook of European recipes called “A Taste of Europe,” which includes 56 recipes from 32 countries gathered from people somehow connected to UF, whether faculty, students or staff. Contributors included their favorite recipes from any European country with background information about its “cultural, social or personal significance,” according to CES's website.

CES is one of 10 federal funded Title VI National Resource Centers for Europe. It helps fund new Europe-related courses and academic programs at UF and tries to increase awareness of European cultures with a variety of outreach activities.

Darleen Randall, head chef at Take Away Gourmet, started her business a year ago, and calls her food "upscale comfort food." The shop offers food pre-made from scratch or raw products with ingredients and instructions so buyers can make it themselves at home.

Randall said cooking has always been a big part of her life, even when she had a corporate office job for 13 years. After being laid off from the job, she was forced to think about the next phase of her life and decide what she wanted to do to make her feel balanced.

"I found it with beaters in my hand," Randall said.

Randall had frequent parties where she made large amounts of food for her friends, and when people came to her and told her their favorites, she used those same recipes to make at her shop. Barbecue ribs, black bean and corn salsa, cheesecake, Cajun shrimp casserole, chicken parmesan with spaghetti, vegetarian chili and fudge topped brownies are just a few of the many eclectic foods offered on the menu.

Randall said it's been a lot of fun growing her business, and she’s glad she ended up doing it.

"It's challenging, but I don't regret it," she said.

Take Away Gourmet offers several more cooking classes, including Indian cooking, which takes place Sept. 20, Oct. 4, 16 and 25, spice blending and a series of Cooking 101 classes, which cover equipment, terminology, cooking tips, and several different recipes to try.

Most classes are $30 and beginner to intermediate level, and private parties for couples or groups can be booked as well. In the past, the shop has held cooking classes for girl scouts, sororities and more. Requests are always welcome.

In the European cooking classes, Randall will be cooking along with Lia Merivaki, Chris and Dorota Caes, Zuzana Vatralova and Georgia Bianchi, all a part of CES. Randall said many times she has chefs cook beside her to give the customers some culture and history.

Randall’s cooking classes are interactive. Using all of the senses when cooking is important, she said.

"The more senses you experience, the more you're going to remember," Randall said.

For more information about CES or the European cooking classes, call 352-392-8902. For information about Take Away Gourmet, call the shop at 352-374-4433 or e-mail info@takeawaygourmet4u.com.

Gator Longboarding

Wednesday night, about 15 longboarders raced downhill on the road behind Broward Hall, sliding, carving and boardwalking.

Sliding is where the longboarder turns the board to one side and stops quickly, either standing up or putting his hands on the ground. Carving involves leaning the board left and right downhill to reduce speed. Lastly, walking up and down the board while moving is called boardwalking.

All of the longboarders came out for Gator Longboarding, an established longboarding organization at the University of Florida that has over 100 members and has been around for a year. The club organizes skate sessions, talks about skating and networks with other skaters.

Wednesday night was their first beginner’s meet of the semester, where a few new members came out to learn new longboarding tricks and tips.

Larry Hamami, biology freshman and new to the club, was taught how to perform the slide technique by one of the officers of the group. Hamami said he has been skating for more than a year but is still trying to get better so that he can go down bigger roads.

“It’s hard to longboard unless you know how to slow yourself down,” Hamami said. “You need to be able to handle speed.”

Brian Elsken, civil engineering freshman and also new to the club, has been longboarding for less than a year. He was also learning how to slide with help from the officers.

Elsken said he’s getting better at sliding, but it’s still scary for him. He plans to keep coming to the club's meets to improve his skills and to make friends.

Kimmy Hudon, applied physiology and kinesiology sophomore, has been longboarding for only one week. Her lesson was to learn how to stop correctly. The officers showed her how to put one foot slightly on the ground and slowly come to a stop.

“I fell when I tried going down a hill on campus,” Hudon said. “It’s not as easy as it sounds, but it’s fun.”

Hudon said she’s mainly learning how to brake and maneuver better around people on campus because she rides to class. Her usual 15 minute walk from one building to another turns into 3-4 minutes on the longboard, saving her a lot of time.

The longboarders in the club skate for fun, but most of them skate for transportation purposes.

Members of Gator Longboarding usually skate around the campus or Gainesville, trying to find new spots. They also sometimes get pizza provided by their sponsor, FreeRide Surf and Skate Shop.

The surf and skate shop, which sells longboards and longboard parts, also gets the organization members 10% off anything in the store.

For buying a board, the club suggested looking on www.gainesville.craigslist.org, www.silverfishlongboarding.com or visiting FreeRide Surf and Skate Shop.

The club will have official meets every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Clinics and social meets will be held on Wednesdays.

Next Wednesday there will be another beginner's meet. The club is always welcoming anyone who likes to longboard or wants to learn more about longboarding. They also accept short boards, downhill boards and cruisers.

“Everyone is welcome,” said Christopher McCarthy, engineering junior and president of Gator Longboarding. “We’re really working on expanding; we have big dreams.”

For more information about the organization, join their Facebook group called Gator Longboarding.

GatorLAN F10

The Reitz Union Grand Ballroom filled with computers, video game consoles, big screens and more than 350 gamers Saturday at Gator Gaming's GatorLAN event.

From 4 p.m. to midnight, players of Halo 3, Starcraft II, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and several more were invited to compete in their games of choice for free. PC gamers brought their own computers and many console players brought their own controllers.

Best Buy, 352 Media, Electronic Arts (EA) and Digital Worlds Institute also participated by setting up tables for a tech and gaming expo.

The event was put on by Gator Gaming, a video game organization at University of Florida (UF). The organization has been around for a year, this event being the most successful by far.

Randy Bush, sponsorship lead and one of the founders of Gator Gaming, said he and his friends had LAN parties (gamers gather and compete on their computers) in high school and decided UF should have the same.

GatorLAN F10 is just the first of four LAN events planned by Gator Gaming this year, as there are to be two each semester.

"We're really trying to unify the gaming community of Gainesville and to give people an outlet," Bush said.

Members get into future LAN events for free as well as smaller events put on by the organization.

"We're relying on our members for ideas," Bush said. "We [the organization] are hoping to get bigger, better and more polished."

Bush said the turnout this year was several times better than last year's LAN event, and the results were mainly from word of mouth.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl was by far the most popular event. About 100 gamers signed up for it just that same day. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 followed as the second most popular.

Joshua Hsu, 21, physical therapy major and a member of Gator Gaming, said his favorite game is Super Smash Bros. Melee. Hsu said he travels the world for Melee tournaments competing for money, and is in the top five in Florida.

“You get to know people through games,” Hsu said. “You can get housing anywhere. Everybody knows everybody in the gaming community.”

Melee wasn’t at the event, but he was there to watch the games and cheer on his friends.

“I hope to see Gator Gaming become more successful,” Hsu said. “They’ve made huge progress since last year.”

Ahmed Ghalib, 20, electrical engineering major, waited for the next round of Brawl after winning the first match.

"I’m loving it," Ghalib said.”Whoever did this, I'm very grateful.”

After the Halo 3 tournament, the winners were announced. Friends Jonathan Repper, material science engineering freshman and Nick Hardiam, psychology freshman at Florida State University, came out on top.

The two said their strategy for winning was communication and teamwork along with watching each other’s backs. They have been playing Halo since it came out years ago. Both won an Xbox LIVE Three-Month Gold Subscription Card and a gaming magazine.

Winners of the Modern Warfare 2 tournament received an opportunity to go to a Gainesville firing range and fire a real HK MP5 full auto, one of the guns used in the game.

To learn more about Gator Gaming and their events or to become a member, visit their Web site at gatorgaming.com or e-mail membership@gatorgaming.com.

There's no talking here.

(Pictures of last year's event, taken from Facebook)

So, this morning I went to an event at UF called The First Amendment Free Food Festival. I had learned a lot about it in the past week and knew it was going to be fun, but I didn't know it was going to be this much fun and this intense.

Outside the area of the event, volunteers yelled at students passing by to come in.

"Free food! Just sign away your first amendment rights! No big deal!"

Once the students signed away their rights and received a passport, they were able to come in and experience what things would be like if they really didn't have any of those 5 rights.

There was no talking. No standing or sitting near anybody. No laughing. They couldn't even choose which food they wanted to eat. Pizza? Hmm. No, I think I'd rather you have a sandwich instead.

One volunteer told a student she didn't like the way he was eating his chicken. Another told the student to move because he didn't like where she was standing.

"Your opinion doesn't matter," a sign near the food table read.

The dictator's lounge, where I was in charge, was where the "good" people went and got to sit at a table and eat cookies and ice cream.

"Here are your friends," Vice President of SPJ Ashley Hemmy said, leading a new member to the table. She was wearing boots, big aviator sunglasses and had a cigar sticking out of her mouth. "Don't talk to them."

If anyone did talk, I had to yell at them and tell them to shut up or I'd throw them in jail, which was also set up.

I'd have to say the best part of the day was when one girl in the dictator's lounge was being kicked out, grabbed a cookie, and I snatched it from her plate and put it back.

Another time, a student took his cell phone out at the lounge, and I yelled at him to put it away. Anyone who tried to sit down or even get near the lounge, I said, "Excuse me? Did anyone tell you that you could be here?"

I can easily say it was the bitchiest I've ever been in my life. And it was awesome.

People sat there and ate in silence. Some of them really looked intimidated by the whole situation, and a lot of others from outside looked afraid to even go in.

Actors from Theater Strike Force, an improv comedy group at UF, also volunteered for the event - some dressed as guards holding shields and sticks and others as regular students.

If a student came in with a newspaper, it was ripped to shreds. No free press. If an actor came in with a bible to protest, it was ripped to shreds as well.

"There's no religion here," a guard said.

Unfortunately I was not able to stay more than half an hour, but for the little time I stayed, I had an absolute blast. I hope the event really opened peoples' eyes to how important our first amendment rights are, and how getting a free lunch isn't worth it if you have to give up those rights.

It was the most fun and interesting thing I've done since I moved here this semester, and I can't wait to do it next year. I'm definitely going to go all out next time...or at least buying some of those intimidating aviator sunglasses.