I am taking a class called Investigative Reporting. I had a project due Wednesday, where I had to make a 2 and a half minute news package about a controversial issue in Gainesville or Alachua County. My original topic was about college athletes receiving free stuff from boosters, club promoters, etc. I hit a bump in the road when I set up my interviews with several basketball players, then they told me that they couldn't do it because of UAA rules. I had to scramble for a topic and what else did I choose but the new Gainesville drinking ban, much like my last blog post.
I gathered a lot of information by just going to the bars as I usually did and asking bartenders, managers, and bar-goers what kind of changes they've noticed since the drinking bans were put in place on July 1st. All of them agreed, the financial impact of the drinking ban is hurting the local economy more than the fewer underage arrest is helping the city. Swamp even said they have had a "disastrous" two weeks of business since the ban was put in place. The exact law states that if bars that hold 200+ people get 10 underage drinking citations in a three month span, they are no longer allowed to let people under 21 in for 90 days. That is a really long time.
The funniest thing about my research is that I would call and ask for the bar owners for an interview and they would give me an emphatic NO! But when I would go to the bars at night and talk to them as if I was just a normal bar patron, they were more than happy to talk to me about it. If only I had a pair of those glasses with a hidden camera so I could have used the video in my report! All of the bar-folk I talked to are all very frustrated with the strict laws that have been put in place. I hope all this madness stops before there is a full-on Gainesville prohibition and we have to open a speak-easy.
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