VOLUME 107 ISSUE 116 WWW.ALLIGATOR.ORG MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2013

Today

We Inform. You Decide.Not officially associated with the University of Florida Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida

Gators earn No. 3 seedSenior guard Kenny Boynton and Florida are the third-seeded team in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament, pg. 13.

St. Patrick’s Day recap: Gainesville bars got green Beer. Read the story online at alligator.org.Locals milk Family Day at UF Dairy UnitMoo. Read the story online at alligator.org.

Gatornationals drivers sped through

Gainesville this weekend. Read the

story on page 4, and see a gallery of photos

online at alligator.org.

FORECAST 2OPINIONS 6CLASSIFIEDS 10

CROSSWORD 11SPORTS 13

82/61

Sarah Jean Fickett / Alligator

Splish, SplashUF students enjoy a 100-foot Slip ‘N Slide at the Pi Kappa Alpha house on West University Avenue on Friday afternoon. This event served as a Dance Marathon check-in point, and all proceeds will go to the Children’s Miracle Network.

FATEMAH ALBADERAlligator Contributing Writer

After a six-year absence, an American-style circus will be back in Gainesville for a two-day per-formance.

Cole Bros. Circus Of The Stars will perform in The Oaks Mall parking lot at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. today and Tuesday.

Chris Connors, performance director and ringmaster, said the circus is the world’s largest and America’s oldest big top circus. This year, the show will feature 20 acts by about 40 performers.

“The circus opens up with a roar and ends with a bang,” he said.

Bill Carter, marketing director of the circus, said the event will include several signature shows, including a human cannonball fea-turing the world’s largest cannon.

The show will also include new acts from a Colombian high-wire troupe as well as up-close perfor-mances by baby elephants and white tigers.

“It is a much more intimate ex-perience than seeing a circus in an arena,” Carter said.

Cole Bros. Circus Of The Stars travels up and down the United States’ East Coast for nine months every year. It is currently in its 129th season of touring.

Discounted tickets can be pur-chased online at www.gotothecir-cus.com or at regular price at the box office in front of the tent. Free children’s tickets are available at various restaurants around town.

The show works and performs seven days a week, usually in three different towns a week, Carter said. After Tuesday’s final performance, the circus will continue its tour in Brunswick, Ga.

“It’s a city that moves at night,” Carter said.

Circus coming to town

crime

KATHRYN VARNAlligator Staff Writer

A UF student faces felony charges after turning herself in last week for a hit-and-run accident in 2011 that killed two Sanford, Fla., motorcyclists.

The Florida Highway Patrol charged Rita Laurie Carter, 20, of DeLand, with two counts of leaving the scene of a fatal crash and two counts of driving under the influence man-slaughter, among other charges, according to

an FHP news release.Carter is currently a UF student studying

telecommunication, according to her Facebook page.

The crash happened at about 4:20 a.m. Oct. 16, 2011, after Carter, driving her 2007 Ford Explorer westbound on Interstate 4 near State Road 44, hit the back of a motorcycle driven by Javier Remonsanzol, then 34.

The force threw Remonsanzol and his pas-senger, Allison Sellers, then 32, from the bike, according to an FHP crash report.

Remonsanzol was thrown into the road, and Sellers landed on the highway shoulder. Neither of them were wearing helmets. Mul-tiple cars hit Remonsanzol while he lay in the road, including a Chevrolet Impala that struck a tree and caught fire trying to avoid him, ac-cording to the report.

Paramedics pronounced Remonsanzol and Sellers dead at the scene.

Meanwhile, Carter, who was 19 at the time of the crash, pulled off the interstate and drove

UF student turns herself in for 2011 crash

� THE STORE WOULD SELL OUTDOOR APPAREL AND EQUIPMENT.

MEGHAN PRYCEAlligator Contributing Writer

Dave McDaid was living in New York during Sept. 11. A few days after, he left because of the uncertainty of what could happen next.

About nine years later, the 37-year-old founded the IRISH-WATERDOGS WARRIORS pro-

gram, a nonprofit organization serving veterans, first respond-ers and their families by doing outdoor activities one day each month. These activities include kayaking, fishing and sailing.

The organization is in the pro-cess of opening a store that would sell apparel and outdoor equip-ment in downtown Gainesville. The money from the shop will help support the High Springs chapter, McDaid said.

“The things I get to enjoy, and the things I love in the country, I have them because of our veter-

ans,” he said.The High Springs chapter had

its kickoff event Friday at the San-ta Fe Canoe Outpost, 21410 U.S. Highway 441.

A group of veterans and vol-unteers went kayaking for three hours down the Santa Fe River.

Alee Karpf, who has been working with the program for about a year, said kayaking is an

activity disabled veterans can par-ticipate in because it depends on upper-body strength.

“The veterans get to feel com-pletely at ease,” she said. “It’s a chance to shake off all that stuff.”

Adam Haddock, a 39-year-old Air Force veteran, knows first-hand how drug abuse and depres-sion can affect other veterans.

Haddock was a first-time par-ticipant in the program and said kayaking is a good way to release tension in a positive way.

“It’s like a natural antidepres-sant,” he said.

Nonprofit hopes shop will get veterans outdoorsSee crASh, pAge 4

“It’s like a natural antidepressant.”

Adam HaddockAir Force veteran

“The circus opens up with a roar and ends with

a bang.”Chris Connors

ringmaster