<p>The truth behind the rumors</p>
<p>By KIM WILMATH
Alligator Writer</p>
<p>Charles Roop / Alligator Staff
It’s rumored that a Tom Petty song was inspired by a girl who jumped from Beaty Towers. College is a mysterious place. Among all the strange faces, unfamiliar buildings and abrupt new freedom, you’ll hear some tall tales and false folklore. </p>
<p>But we’re here to sort out the fact from the fiction. </p>
<p>Here are the top UF legends you might hear: </p>
<p>Haunted Norman Hall </p>
<p>The rumor: Norman Hall, an old elementary school, is inhabited by the ghosts of its old students. </p>
<p>It’s said there’s an old hospital bed on the top floor that is mysteriously left unmade every morning after being re-made each day. </p>
<p>The truth: UF historian, Carl Van Ness, said this is a common Gator ghost story. </p>
<p>He said while Norman Hall housed the education college and the P.K. Yonge K-12 laboratory school in the 1930’s, to his knowledge, there are no ghosts. </p>
<p>The Gainesville Ripper </p>
<p>The rumor: Many years ago, a bloodthirsty killer came to Gainesville and mass murdered students. </p>
<p>The truth: During the first week of fall classes in 1990, an ex-convict named Danny Rolling came to Gainesville and murdered five students by stabbing them to death. </p>
<p>For three days, UF and SFCC students lived in fear of being raped and murdered. </p>
<p>Rolling’s first two victims were freshman girls, Christina Powell and Sonja Larson, who were asleep in their brand-new apartment when Rolling entered through the unlocked door. </p>
<p>After killing Larson, Rolling raped and murdered Powell. </p>
<p>Powell’s parents, who had not heard from their daughter, came to Gainesville to check on her several days later and discovered the dead teenagers. </p>
<p>Nine hours later, police found the body of Christa Hoyt, a 19-year-old SFCC student. After he raped and murdered her, Rolling cut off Hoyt’s head and placed it on her bookshelf. The last two victims were found the next day. </p>
<p>Manuel Taboada, a 23-year-old UF student, had been stabbed at least 31 times. Then Rolling raped and murdered Taboada’s roommate, Tracy Paules. </p>
<p>Four years later, Rolling pleaded guilty to five counts of murder, and he was executed by lethal injection last October. </p>
<p>Indian burial groud at UF law school </p>
<p>The rumor: UF’s Law School was built atop an ancient Native American burial ground. The spirits have vowed to haunt the place until they’re left to rest in peace. </p>
<p>The truth: Van Ness said there is a Native American mound at the site, but he called it a sort of ancient junkyard. He said there are no bodies under the earth. </p>
<p>But according to a plaque at the corner of the campus at Southwest Second Avenue and Northwest 25th Street, an aboriginal burial mound rests 100 yards west of the sign. </p>
<p>The sign states that the mound was built around A.D. 1000 by Alachua Tradition peoples, ancestors of the Potano Indians who lived in the county during the 16th and 17th centuries. </p>
<p>Van Ness said there are similar mounds all over the state, many much bigger than the one at UF. </p>
<p>Ghost at Thomas hall </p>
<p>The rumor: Thomas Hall, one of UF’s two original buildings, once housed a cafeteria. A boisterous cook named Steve is said to haunt the place. </p>
<p>The truth: Van Ness said this story was concocted as a joke. </p>
<p>“They said the clanging of the old radiator pipes was old Steve banging on his pots and pans,” Van Ness said. “It was never meant to be taken seriously.” </p>
<p>Roommate death perks </p>
<p>The rumor: If your roommate commits suicide and you walk into the morbid scene, UF gives you A’s for the semester. </p>
<p>This legend is usually paired with a rumor about getting hit by a bus on campus - it’s said UF settles by paying your tuition. </p>
<p>The truth: At the mention of this legend, Van Ness burst into laugher. </p>
<p>“I think you need to go to the president with that one,” he said. </p>
<p>Van Ness said certain provisions are made for students who experience traumatic events, but there are no hard-and-fast rules. </p>
<p>Mary ***uyama, a psychologist at UF’s Counseling Center, said though the rumor is untrue, it points to the fact that there is a support system at UF when students experience trauma. </p>
<p>***uyama said the Counseling Center works with the Dean of Students Office to provide assistance to troubled students. </p>
<p>She said she’s never heard of a financial payout, but if a student has a medical issue and needs to withdraw from classes, UF could refund tuition money for that semester. UF’s faculty retains grade power in all cases, ***uyama said. </p>
<p>Charles Roop / Alligator Staff
Legend has it that every time a virgin graduates from UF, a brick falls from Century Tower. No bricks have ever fallen.
Tom Petty’s “American girl” </p>
<p>The rumor: Tom Petty’s song “American Girl” was inspired by a female student who jumped from Beaty Towers. </p>
<p>Tom Petty sings, “She stood alone on her balcony. Yeah, she could hear the cars roll by, out on 441 like waves crashin’ on a beach. And for one desperate moment there, he crept back in her memory.” </p>
<p>The truth: Van Ness said there have been many suicides in UF’s history, and at least one was caused by a jump from one of the Beaty Towers. </p>
<p>He said he thinks the Beaty suicide happened in the late 60’s or early 70’s, when Tom Petty was still performing in Gainesville. </p>
<p>UF does not keep a file on suicides, he said, so he doesn’t know for sure. </p>
<p>SAE painted lion </p>
<p>The rumor: Any time an SAE Fraternity member takes a girl’s virginity, the lion is repainted the color of her panties. </p>
<p>The truth: According to SAE president Sam Warfield, it is a fraternity secret. </p>
<p>“The painting of the SAE lion is based upon events that are worth painting,” he said, “and the colors signify the symbolic nature of that event.” </p>
<p>But in response to the deflowering-celebration legend, Warfield spoke slowly. </p>
<p>After a pause, he said, “Myths always have some truth behind them.” </p>
<p>Cave on campus </p>
<p>The rumor: Somewhere on campus, there’s a cave: a should-be-somewhere-in-the-jungle-but-it’s-somewhere-near-The-Swamp gaping hole in the earth. </p>
<p>It’s also said the bacteria that inhabit it put the last students who explored it in the hospital for six months. </p>
<p>The truth: There are several caves in Gainesville, Van Ness said, most notably Devil’s Millhopper, but none on campus. </p>
<p>Campus is gutted with sinkholes, he said. The Green Pond at the Reitz Union is one, and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is built on another. </p>
<p>“In 1930, when they were looking for a place to put the stadium, they said, �Hey, that’s a nice bowl,'” Van Ness said. “That’s why all the lower seats are at ground level.” </p>
<p>Van Ness said a freshwater spring is under the east stands of The Swamp. It was channeled into a nearby creek on campus. </p>
<p>It’s still flowing today, he added. </p>
<p>UF accidentally invented love bugs </p>
<p>The rumor: During a science experiment gone awry, UF researchers invented the pests. </p>
<p>The truth: Love bugs came to Florida from Cuba, Van Ness said. </p>
<p>“We used to joke that it was a Cuban invasion,” Van Ness said, laughing. </p>
<p>He said the insects have been in Florida since the late �60s, but they’ve been around for thousands of years. </p>
<p>Century Tower’s bricks </p>
<p>The rumor: Every time a virgin graduates from UF, a brick falls from Century Tower. </p>
<p>The truth: “I have nothing to say about that,” Van Ness said. “Of course … no bricks have ever fallen.” </p>
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