The Weekly Newsletter of
the English Language Institute
Volume 151, Issue 4
June 13, 2023
The ELI Weekly
Saturday June 17th – Dave & Buster’s – 1:00pm to 4:00pm
Come play fun arcade games with your friends! Dave & Buster’s is a famous arcade and restaurant with so much to try! Bring 20 to 30 dollars for game tokens and food.
Meet in front of Dave and Buster’s in Celebration Pointe! Take any bus that goes to the Butler transfer station and walk or take bus 33 directly into Celebration Pointe.
Address: 3023 SW 45th St, Gainesville, FL 32608
You must sign up to attend this activity: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4BA9A823A02-dave1
The Weekday Activities
Monday June 12th – Coffee Talk – 6:30 – 9:00pm
Socialize with LAs and ELI friends at the Starbucks on Archer Road! Play games, speak English, and drink a coffee or get dinner at the restaurants nearby! Take bus 1, 12, or 34.
Address: 3524 SW Archer Rd #160, Gainesville, FL 32608
Tuesday June 13th – Volleyball – 6:30 – 9:00pm
Come play volleyball and hang out at Lexington Crossing Apartments Phase 2! No experience necessary! Take bus 34 or 35.
Address: 3900 SW 27th St, Gainesville, FL 32608
Wednesday June 14th – Soccer – 5:30 – 8:00pm
Come play Soccer on campus at Maguire Field on campus! No experience necessary!
Address: Bledsoe Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611
Thursday June 15th – Juneteenth Event- 5:00pm – 7:30pm
Learn about the history of the Juneteenth holiday and celebrate at this event hosted by Santa Fe at the Blount Center near downtown. There will be food trucks, music, crafts and more! Meet at the bus stop in front of the Blount Center at 5pm so we can walk around the event together! See the event website for more details: https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/Events-directory/Juneteenth-Rejoice-Reflect-Remember Take bus 5 or 1.
Address: 401 NW 6th St, Gainesville, FL 32601
Friday June 16th – Reitz Game Room – 6:30pm – 9:00pm
Hang out with ELI friends and play pool or go bowling! Pool and bowling are at a discounted cost with your Gator ID but board games and socializing are free!
Address: 655 Reitz Union Drive, Gainesville, FL 32611
Other CIP Reminders
Don’t forget to get your CIP Passport hole punched from the activity leaders AT the event (not after). We will no longer hole punch passports after the event. Redeem your completed passport for a small gift and photo for the ELI Instagram! Remember the CIP Pineapple is hidden in a new place every Monday in the CIP office. Stop by and find it for hole punches!
Conversation Partners
Sign up for a CP here: https://forms.gle/HeU3v2P9xUTqyW15A
Remember, if you sign up, you must meet your partner at least once a week and respond to their messages. Email conversationpartners@eli.ufl.edu if you have any questions or problems or stop by the CIP office to see Will during his office hours.
CIP Photo of the Week
Here’s a photo from the Volunteer Day Mill Creek Horse Farm activity!
Absences and Tardies
Students have been asking questions about absences and tardies. Here are some reminders and answers to some FAQs. If you have questions, be sure to talk to Christine or check your student guide to read the full ELI attendance policy. Do not ask your friends… that is how rumors get started!
Class attendance is a requirement of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for F-1 visa holders. It is also required by the ELI. If you arrive to class late, you will be marked tardy. Three tardies equals one absence. You are considered late as soon as the class time starts, and your teacher begins teaching. Students and teachers are expected to arrive in the classroom several minutes before the start of class so that the teacher can start on time. If you miss more than 20 minutes of a class for any reason, you will be marked absent.
There are no “excused” absences at the ELI. If you are not physically in the class, your teachers MUST mark you absent, no matter what the reason. However, if you have a good reason for being absent (you are ill or are celebrating a religious holiday, for example), your teachers will let you make up the work you missed. If you will be absent for a religious holiday, you must let your teachers know in advance.
There are many good reasons you might not be able to attend class, but because 35 hours is like missing 7 full days of class, this should give you plenty of time to do things like make appointments, stay home if you are ill, or celebrate religious holidays. You also have many days when there are not classes: 6/12, 6/19, 6/26-6/30, and 7/4.
Here are the answers to some FAQs:
- If I bring a doctor’s note to Christine, can she erase my absences?
o No. It is impossible to “erase” absences at the ELI. However, you should save any doctors notes or other documentation of your absences in case you go over 15% and want to petition to receive a certificate.
- If I attend all of the CIP activities, can it “balance out” my absences in class?
o No. Attendance at the CIP activities cannot make up for absences in class.
- I went to my class and put my backpack in my seat, but then I needed to answer a phone call, so went outside. Why did my teacher mark me absent, even though I was there on time?
o If you miss 20 minutes of a class, teachers must mark you absent, even if you are there on time. So, if you sat in class for 10 minutes, then you left for 15 minutes to talk on the phone, then you returned to the class for 10 minutes, then you stepped out to use the restroom and talk to your friend in the hallway for 5 minutes, then returned to class for the final 10 minutes, you would be marked absent.
- I was just 3 minutes late to class and the teacher was only reviewing the homework when I arrived. Why did he mark me tardy?
o Students are expected to be in class and paying attention at the start of the class time. Your teachers can mark you tardy any time after that.
- I missed more than 15% of my classes because I had an accident and was in the hospital. Can I still receive a certificate?
o Yes, if you saved your medical documentation, spoke to Christine about your situation, and told your teachers what was happening so you could make up your classwork, you can submit a petition to receive a certificate.
Do you have more questions about attendance at the ELI? Send them to ELI Weekly Editor, Todd Allen (toddy33@ufl.edu), and we will answer them for everyone in the Weekly!
Notes from the Office
Juneteenth Holiday: Monday, June 19th is a US holiday. This holiday commemorates the day that African-Americans learned of their emancipation from enslavement on June 19th, 1865. There will be no ELI Classes this day, and the ELI Office will be closed. Also, there will be reduced RTS Bus service. If you would like to learn more about the holiday, the UF Smathers Libraries has an excellent resource page here: https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/aas/juneteenth
Summer Break: Week after next will be Summer Break. There will be no ELI classes, but you can still reach the ELI administration and office staff.
July 4th Holiday: Tuesday, July 4th is US Independence Day. On this day, there will be no ELI Classes, and the ELI office and the university are closed. Also, there will be reduced RTS Bus service. You can check the schedules at go-RTS.com. Please remember that Monday, July 3rd is a regular day of class and that your attendance will be counted.
Tobacco-Free Campus: You are not allowed to vape, smoke, or use any tobacco anywhere on UF campus. This includes bathrooms, parking lots, and outdoor areas of campus. It includes Lake Wauburg, Matherly Courtyard, the Plaza of Americas, and every outdoor space on campus. This policy is for all faculty, staff, students, and visitors. ELI students should NEVER vape or smoke ANYWHERE on campus. If you need help quitting, you can visit https://tobaccofree.ufl.edu/. Also, even if you are smoking off-campus, remember that throwing cigarette butts on the ground is considered littering.
People out: Christine and Tate will be out on Friday, June 16th. Christine will be out on Thursday and Friday, June 22nd and 23rd.
Student Voices Deadline
At the ELI, we love to read your writing! Do you want to share your writing with the ELI? The ELI Student Voices is a great opportunity!
Every semester, the ELI publishes a collection of student writing. You can send a piece of your writing to be published for everyone to read. You can send paragraphs, essays, stories, recipes, poetry, and even photos. Also, the best two pieces of writing will be recognized at the ELI Commencement ceremony at the end of the semester. For inspiration, you can find previous editions of The ELI Student Voices on the ELI website.
To submit your writing, please email Thomas Dolce at tomdolce@ufl.edu. Please include your name and class. The last day to submit a piece of writing is July 21st. We can’t wait to read your writing!
Birthdays
The following are ELI Birthdays for the weeks of June 13 to June 19:
Students:
June 17: Hibah Althibani
Staff:
None this week!
Happy birthday!
Manners and Culture
Q: Why is public transportation poor in most American cities?
A: The United States is very wide and has a lot of open space. Many of the major cities outside of the Northeast and Upper Midwest became large cities after the invention of the automobile. These two factors created a need for a strong highway system, rather than a strong public transportation system as is common in older countries. Rising oil prices, increasingly clogged traffic, and damages to our environment are forcing us to reconsider these choices. In recent years, most cities with metropolitan populations in the US over about 2 million have put in at least light rail systems and dedicated bus lanes, if not new metro systems.
Q: Why don’t the buses run at night on the weekends?
A: The bus routes are based on ridership and profits. During the week, all of the bus routes are busy and there are more bus routes. The more people that need a route, the more busses that run on that route. Not as many people ride the bus late at night on the weekends, so RTS doesn’t offer services because it would be a waste of resources.
Grammar
Q: What’s the difference between “borrow” and “lend”?
A: It’s the same as the difference between “take” and “give”. You borrow something from someone. That someone lends it to you. Interestingly, we are involved in a shift in usage. The verb “lend” is rapidly disappearing and being replaced by what used to be exclusively the noun “loan”.
- Can I borrow a pencil?
- Can you lend me a pencil?
- Can you loan me a pencil?
- Can I take a pencil?
- Can you give me a pencil?
Quote of the Week
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.
–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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For a PDF Copy of the Weekly, go here: SS2304