Allessandra Inzinna

Thank you for checking out my portfolio! I am currently an Atlanta-based freelance reporter with a B.S. in journalism. I have a passion for investigation and amplifying the voices of my community.

ATRIUM MAGAZINE •

Idol lost

An illustration of Kayla posing for an Instagram photo, showing off her phases of the moon tattoo. She loved anything witchy and astronomical.

I set my phone to a heartbeat vibration a week before I got the call. Instead of a few long buzzes, my phone would erupt in quick, irritating pulses. I hadn’t received many phone calls in that time, and the ones that did come through startled me into answering.

When Suzy, a high school friend I had long since lost contact with, called, I still hesitated
The Independent Florida Alligator •

Third protest at Lowell C.I. follows arrest of guard

A concrete sign on the front lawn of Lowell Correctional Institution reads, “We Never Walk Alone.” Across the street, former inmate Jordan Upchurch holds up a cardboard sign with that exact message scribbled across it.

Upchurch, who spent the majority of her 120-month sentence at Lowell Correctional Institute, said just as Lowell’s sign serves to represent the unity of their staff, hers symbolizes the solidarity of the inmates, both former and current.

“We’re not ever gonna go away,” Upchurch,
The Independent Florida Alligator •

Fleas, leaks and gashes: the off-campus luxury student living experience

A dozen apartment complexes in Gainesville are located less than a five-minute drive from campus. Rent near campus is steep as multiple apartments charge more than $1000 per month.

The proximity to campus entices students who may not have a car, want to walk to campus or are enthralled by “luxury student living.” However, many residents claim the luxury they were promised may not be as advertised. Despite the chronic issues, new apartments continue to be built surrounding UF’s campus.

Three ne
The Independent Florida Alligator •

“To be her friend was to feel true joy.”: In Honor of Sabrina Marie Obando

To be Sabrina Marie Obando’s friend was to be showered in love, laughter and light.

Madison Bushloper, her close friend, recounted their relationship as stronger than a family member.

“She never failed to bring out the best in everyone,” Bushloper wrote in a text message. “I always felt my most vibrant and joyous when in her presence.”

Obando, a 22-year-old Miami native, graduated cum laude in Fall 2021 with a degree in art history. On Jan. 4, Obando was hit by a pickup truck while she was cr
The Independent Florida Alligator •

HealthStreet begins project to improve Hispanic outreach

A UF program is stepping in to bridge a gap for Spanish-only speakers by translating their medical forms.

HealthStreet, a UF community engagement program that helps reduce disparities in health research, introduced the project in September. To address a lack of Latinx and Hispanic people using the program’s health services and addressing what they want, program members translated all the forms pertaining to their health services into Spanish.

Ivan Grela, a 21-year-old UF microbiology and cell
The Independent Florida Alligator •

Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell running for reelection

Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell is making her fifth run as the county sheriff.

The Gainesville native has served in local law enforcement for 42 years and has been sheriff for more than a decade. Darnell, 67, was first elected to the position in 2006 and currently serves as the only female sheriff in Florida.

Darnell said she has increased training for 911 call takers and created a dog training program in the county jail.

“What our primary duty as law enforcement officers or deputies is
The Independent Florida Alligator •

UF students unsure when Amazon Echo Dot will make its way to on-campus housing

Students living in dorms can’t call for Alexa. That’s because the Amazon Echo Dot can’t connect to residential WiFi.

The Amazon Echo Dot is currently being evaluated to make sure there are no security or connectivity issues, Matt Pendleton, senior director of information technology for student affairs, wrote in an email. The residential network allows students living on campus to access the internet, except for those in sororities and fraternities.

After the product has been evaluated, UF IT f
The Independent Florida Alligator •

New food market and Starbucks to open in Norman Hall Monday

A food market and Starbucks are opening up Monday in UF’s Norman Hall as part of the building’s ongoing renovations.

No food service was previously available in Norman Hall before the construction of Starbucks and The Market, which is very similar to a P.O.D Market, said Tom Dana, UF’s College of Education Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.

The Market and Starbucks are the newest additions in a set of renovations taking place at Norman Hall and the Education Library, Dana said. The tot
The Independent Florida Alligator •

UF implements two-factor authentication to combat cybercrime

UF students will soon have to undergo extra steps to access school accounts.

Starting at the end of Spring semester, UF staff, students and faculty must enroll in two-factor authentication to protect their Gatorlink accounts from cybercrime, according to an email sent to students Jan. 21.

Two-factor authentication prevents users who might know a student’s Gatorlink username and password from getting into the account without access to their smartphone as well, according to the email.

The two-s
The Independent Florida Alligator •

Campaign for Hippodrome State Theatre raises $168,000

The Hippodrome State Theatre can finally revamp its “A Christmas Carol” costumes after receiving $168,000 from the Collier Challenge Campaign.

The campaign, which is meant to support local actors, programs, script royalties and the theater education department, finished its first year collecting donations for the Hippodrome, which a nonprofit theater located at 25 SE Second Place in downtown Gainesville. The campaign was created by Nathan Collier, a long-time supporter of the Hippodrome and the
The Independent Florida Alligator •

CJC starts memorial fund in honor of UF alumni Edward Aschoff

UF College of Journalism and Communications set up a memorial fund in honor of one of its former students who became an ESPN reporter upon graduation.

Edward Aschoff graduated from UF in 2008 and became a sports reporter for ESPN in 2011.

He died Christmas Eve from HLH syndrome, a complication of pneumonia and underlying non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a type of cancer that originates in the lymphatic system — the disease-fighting system throughout the body.

“One of the common themes that you saw from
The Independent Florida Alligator •

High winds damage the north shore of Lake Wauburg

Lake Wauburg’s building structures, docks and watercraft equipment took a hit from strong winds during winter break. Despite that, though, it is reopening to the public.

UF RecSports announced Friday on Facebook that while the south shore will reopen Tuesday, the north shore will remain closed for repairs.

The damage occurred in the early morning of Dec. 14 because of 75 mph winds. Whether a tornado caused it is unconfirmed, though high winds damaged the area, said Aaron Hobson, director of op
The Independent Florida Alligator •

BROCKHAMPTON and Deb Never kick off the start of Fall with a sold-out concert

When the hip-hop boy band BROCKHAMPTON took the stage at the O’Connell Center at 8:15 p.m. and started their concert with “BUZZCUT,” students with floor seats ditched their chairs and formed a large crowd in front of the stage.

Mostly maskless students stood shoulder-to-shoulder and glowed in bright roaming lights as a band member encouraged the crowd to clap with the Gator chomp.

“I need y’all to do that thing with your hands,” he said onstage, and the audience obliged.

Their Aug. 23 perform
The Independent Florida Alligator •

BROCKHAMPTON and Deb Never to perform at UF first day of Fall

Student Government will welcome students on the first day of Fall classes with a BROCKHAMPTON concert — allowing for a break from syllabi reading and future assignment stress.

Student Government Productions, an SG-funded agency that pays entertainers to perform at UF, will host the free event at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Aug. 23. To attend the event, students can request a maximum of two tickets per student ID at Gate 1 of the O’Connell Center beginning Aug. 16 at 12 p.m. or during regula
The Independent Florida Alligator •

UF student comes back as a wild card on Jeopardy! College Championship

When long-time Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek introduced her in the first episode of the semi-finals, Kayla Kalhor gave the camera a Gator chomp, representing UF in this season of Jeopardy! College Championship.

The episode featuring Kalhor, a 19-year-old UF chemistry sophomore, aired on Monday. After earning a high score in the second episode of the quarter-finals and scoring second place, Kalhor returned as a wild card, one of the four highest-scoring non-winners from the first five episodes of t
The Independent Florida Alligator •

UF student comes back as a wild card on Jeopardy! College Championship

When long-time Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek introduced her in the first episode of the semi-finals, Kayla Kalhor gave the camera a Gator chomp, representing UF in this season of Jeopardy! College Championship.

The episode featuring Kalhor, a 19-year-old UF chemistry sophomore, aired on Monday. After earning a high score in the second episode of the quarter-finals and scoring second place, Kalhor returned as a wild card, one of the four highest-scoring non-winners from the first five episodes of t
The Independent Florida Alligator •

Who is Kayla Kalhor? A UF student competes in Jeopardy! College Championship

Kayla Kalhor found herself stiff while competing on the iconic Jeopardy stage. She stood on a platform to make her and the other contestants appear the same height and noticed the set looked shockingly bigger in person than on TV.

“I was pretty nervous,” Kalhor said. “But I wasn’t as nervous as I expected to be.”

Kalhor, a 19-year-old UF chemistry sophomore, represented UF while competing in the Jeopardy! College Championship Tuesday evening. In the game show, participants hear a series of clu
The Independent Florida Alligator •

UF sends update of student resources in light of COVID-19

UF sent an email Friday afternoon detailing various university updates regarding COVID-19.

Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order for the entire state Wednesday. It went into effect Thursday at midnight.

Since UF President Kent Fuchs’ email on March 11, the university has encouraged students to go home.

Here are some updates and notices from the the university’s Friday email:

Using your Gainesville address when filling out the census

UF encourages students to take part in the census.
The Independent Florida Alligator •

Student political clubs advocate for Democratic candidates

Someone stole the head of a $50 Bernie Sanders lifesize cutout. The president of Students for Bernie, William Zelin, said he chased after the thief.

The 22-year-old UF political science and statistics senior said this cutout is one of the tools the student group supporting Sanders used to attract students. They had the cutout on display when they informed students about the Democratic candidate.

Zelin said he supports Sanders’ version of the Green New Deal and believes student loan debt should
The Independent Florida Alligator •

Pet care clinic offers free services

Florida Animal Friend is helping fund spaying and neutering procedures for pets, and it wants students to know that the service is available in Gainesville.

Florida Animal Friend donated $14,800 in August to St. Francis Pet Care Clinic so low-income pet owners can spay or neuter their cats or dogs for no cost. The donation covers 224 surgeries, and 72 have been completed since veterinarians began conducting surgeries in November, said Priscilla Caplan, a volunteer and a former secretary of the
The Independent Florida Alligator •

Tulsi Gabbard is the only person of color left in the election. But polls don’t show her as the top choice.

Yes, Tulsi Gabbard is still running as a Democrat for president.

Gabbard is a representative for Hawaii’s 2nd District, and she is the last person of color and the last woman left in the presidential race.

At UF, however, she doesn’t have much of a fanbase from cultural organizations.

Stephon Adams, political action chair of UF’s NAACP, said he understands the need for minority and female representation in the election — but he doesn’t see Gabbard as a strong contender against President Donal
The Independent Florida Alligator •

New engineering laboratory hosts its billionaire namesake for ribbon-cutting ceremony

Donning his iconic red cowboy hat, Herbert Wertheim, the billionaire namesake of the latest addition to the College of Engineering, cut the ribbon for the new building just north of the Reitz Union.

The dedication ceremony took place the morning of Oct. 7 in front of the new engineering building, which cost $72.5 million. UF put down $7.2 million while the College of Engineering invested $9 million for the building’s construction and Facilities Services gave $4.6 million for infrastructure upgr
The Independent Florida Alligator •

SG Senate Committee seats are disproportionately Gator Party

Gator Party has kept a grip on senate committees for the past three semesters. This semester is no different, with 100% of nominated committee members belonging to the majority party.

Gator Party has held a majority in Senate for more than a year since Spring 2020 when it won its first executive ticket. Now, with about 70 Gator senators in the chamber, the composition of Senate committees echoes this majority.

Committees are responsible for reviewing bills, recommending replacement senators, a
Load More