RAMADAN FASTS BRING HEALTH RISKS, BENEFITS by Sarah Khan My family is Muslim and I observed Ramadan when I was younger, so this story resonated with me. I think the health effects of Ramadan is an interesting angle that I don't see in mainstream media and this was a great chance to tell the story. Families have very different traditions for breaking the fast so it's interesting to see how those aspects affect a person's health. My editor also enjoyed the story and she thought it was unique material. I mainly contacted physicians and Muslim community leaders for this story. My only regret is that it could not be longer. I feel like there are so many aspects that could be expanded on. But I'm glad that I could keep a localized focus to the story. This article, which originally ran on July 20, 2012, has been reproduced in its entirety on our website with permission from The Orlando Sentinel.

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INDEX

95°/75°(today/tonight)

WEATHER

Mainly dryand hot.Forecast, A21

Calendar: Your guide to Target Family Theatre Fest

Sheriff: Shootingwas ‘unfortunate’Dozensprotest fatal shooting;Lake sheriff calls it justified.A3

Greer’s trial will bedelayed 4 monthsJudgenames4prominentRe-publicans tobewitnesses.A4

Pretrial diversionset up for veteransOfficials cite struggles veteransface returning to civilian life.A6

LOCAL NEWS

“In theShadowofRace” isa series on theTrayvonMartin case’s racial back-dropandhowracehasshapedSanford. FrancisOliver, right, is onekeeperof Sanford’s blackhistory.

COMING SUNDAY

Trayvon tragedy spursSanford racial dialogue Bianchi: Let Dwight

sweat a little longerIf he’ll play for Lakers,why notClippers, Bulls orThunder?B1

SPORTS

Disabled threaten toboycott some hotelsTheysay lodging industry isdeny-ing themequal access topools. A14

BUSINESS

SCOTT MAXWELL

They litter roadsides all over town: signs advertising cash for junk cars, cheap computer fixes, credit repair or a$99divorce.

Code-enforcementofficerspickuptensof thousandsof the illegalsignseveryyear,but theyquicklysproutagain,oftenwithinhours.NowOrangeCountyandOrlandoofficialsare tryingadifferentapproach:They’regoing tobeabiggernuisance than the sign scofflaws.

Local officials are launchinga “robocall” systemthatwill repeatedlydial thephonenumberson the signswitharecordedmessageuntil the signs are removedand the culprits pay a fine.The incessant calls aredesigned to tie upviolators’ phonenumbersuntil theyknuckleunder.

“I personally get more complaints about these signs than anything else — they are just an awful scourge,” saidcountyCodeEnforcementDirectorBobSpivey. “Wepulledup92,000signs last year.”

ROBOCALLS FIGHT SIGN SCOURGE

An illegal sign sits Thursday atJohn Young Parkway and WestColonial Drive in Orlando.

RED HUBER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

“I personally getmore complaintsabout these signsthan anything else.”Orange Code EnforcementDirector Bob Spivey

ByMark Schlueb | Staff Writer

Please turn to SIGNS, A10

ForMuslims inCentralFlorida, thenext30 daysare a bit holier than the rest of the year. Ramadan,which starts today, is a religious holiday and a timeforMuslimsworldwide to reinvent themselves.

Adaily fast accompanies theheightened spiritu-ality, eachday openingwith ameal at dawnandnofoodor drinkuntil sunset. Thepractice can bring ahost of challenges—and somebenefits.

Thisyear, thechallengeswillbecompoundedbytemperatures in the 90s and longdays that averageabout13 hours of sunlight.

“The long days make it difficult, but if you planyour life accordingly, it’s a very spiritual month,”said Atif Fareed, an airline pilot and president of

Ramadan fasts bringhealth risks, benefitsBy Sarah Khan | Staff Writer

Please turn to RAMADAN, A10

Nashalie Nunez did fine in her Algebra 1 class atCypress Creek High this past year, passing with a Baverage.

But when she took Florida’s new algebra finalexam, she failed.

“It just overwhelmedme,” she said.The 14-year-old Orange County student said she

might have beendone in by the strangeness of takinga 160-minute exam on computer. Or maybe hernerves got the best of her because she knew she hadtopass the test to graduate.

Starting with Nashalie’s class, students cannotearn ahigh-school diplomaunless theypass the test.

Many did not. For ninth-graders, the passing rateacross Florida on the algebra end-of-course examthis springwas48 percent.

To pass key test, students hit algebra boot campBy Leslie Postal | Staff Writer

Please turn to TEST, A9Cypress Creek High math teacher Loeilyn Shaughnessy, left, helpsDaria McLaughlin during algebra summer school this week.

JOE BURBANK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Fellow drum majors calledhim“TheExample.”

Florida A&M Universitydrum major Robert Champion,beaten to death on a parkedcharter bus inOrlando last fallwhile beinghazed, was thefirst to arrive forpractice, the lastto leave. Hecared deeplyabout theworld-famous band’ssound, its look, its image.

“Rob was constantly askingfor more help to improve ourcraft andart.Hewasalwaysask-ing, ‘Hey, can we do this? Whatdo you think I can do better toimprovemyself?’Hewas always

FAMU HAZING CASE

Champion’sfriend: Hazingkey to respectBy Stephen Hudak andDenise-Marie BalonaStaff Writers

Please turn to HAZING, A10

Wills

A day after George Zimmermantalked about the death of TrayvonMartin on television, prosecutorssaidtheywouldusetheinterviewasevidence in the second-degree-

murder case.The move did not surprise Cen-

tral Florida defense attorneys, whosaid Zimmermandid himself no fa-vors by agreeing to an hourlong in-terviewwith FoxNews’ SeanHan-nityonWednesdaynight.

“I think George Zimmerman

needs to stop talking,” said DavidFaulkner, aWinter Park defense at-torney and former FBI agent. “Idon’t think the interview changesanyone’s mind. It just adds morestatements that they’re going tohave todefendat trial.”

So why did he take the risk of

going on national TV to tell hisstory?Money, his attorney said.

“Thedefensefundisvirtuallyoutof money, and they can’t provideshelter, security, anything prettysoon if the spending continues as itis and the donations continue asthey are,” O’Mara told the Sentinel.

HecalledHannityhisclient’s “earli-est supporter ... a voice of reasonsaying let’s not rush to judgment.”

Zimmerman, O’Mara said,promised Hannity in April that hewouldgettheNeighborhoodWatch

TRAYVON MARTIN CASE

Zimmerman TV chat may aid prosecutors

Please turn to HANNITY, A11

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STYLE & HOMEFrom Page One

thirsty for more knowledge,”saidRikkiWills, 24,whowasChampion’s roommate andone of 11 band memberscharged inhisdeath.

Champion also hated haz-ing, said Wills, himself adrummajor.

During an interview thisweekwiththeOrlandoSenti-nel,Wills, theonlyhazingde-fendant to speak publicly inany depth about the case, re-vealed some new detailsaboutChampion’sdeath.

Healsoofferedhisviewonwhy hazing thrived insideFAMU’s celebrated band de-spite an administration and aband director who said theyfought it.

In the company of his at-torney, Bill Sharpe, a formerassistant public defender inOrange County, Wills pro-fessedhis innocence.He saidhe tried to shield Championfrom the onslaught of fists,kicks and drumsticks thatcaused his friend to die fromshock brought on by deep-tissuebleeding.

He said he took blowsmeant for Champion as theymade their way through thegauntlet on Bus C that nightin November after the Flori-da Classic football game attheFloridaCitrusBowl.

Wills, who did not talkwith detectives during theirinvestigation, said he wasbashed and his arms werebruised.

“I know that I fracturedmy right-hand ring fingerand my middle finger be-cause I was getting hit withpercussion mallets trying totake somebody’s hand off ofRobert’s leg because theywereholding it,” he said.

Wills said hewas told thatChampion and anotherdrum major, Keon Hollis,wereplanningto“dothebus”ashewaswalkingtowardtheRosen Plaza hotel where thebandwas staying.

Wills said Champion wasconflicted about participat-ing in the ritual because itviolated his personal standagainst a “bad tradition”deeply embedded in theband culture. But he thoughtheneededtoearntherespectof the Marching 100’s rowdypercussion section, the bandmembers who rode Bus C, ifhe ever hoped to rise to be

headdrummajorandleadanensemble that performed atpresidential inaugurations,theGrammyAwards andSu-perBowls,Wills said.

“When Robert becamedrummajor —much like ev-eryother first-yeardrumma-jor— [he discovered] it is ex-tremely hard to gain the re-spect from your peers, andespecially difficult [to gainthe respect of] the percus-sion section,” Wills said. “Ifyou don’t control the percus-sion section, you essentiallydon’t control theband.”

He said he understoodChampion’smisgivings.

“I never agreedwith [haz-ing]myself, but I understoodthat it was just the way thatthings worked,” said Wills,who submitted to hazing onBus C in 2008. “If you wentagainst the grain, you werealienated, youwere isolated.”He said a drum major couldearn acceptance from thepercussion section by endur-ing the pounding of fists anddrumsticksonBusC.

“The drum majors neverget on that bus, and the onlytime we do, you know, is tohelp one of our fellow broth-ers get through that processto get the respect they de-serve,” Wills said. “It’s sad,but it’s theonlyway toget it.”

He said he helped Holliscross first.

Then, when he looked upfrom the back of the bus,Wills saw Champion, shirt-less, at the front. Champion,he said, stood with his armsstretched out, preparing torundown thecenter aisle.

“It was extremely hot. Itwas extremely dark. Youcouldn’t see anybody,” Willssaid. He said he scrambledfrom the back over the top of

the seats to reachChampion.Wills did not identify any

of thehazers.Hesaidhekepthis head down, helpingChampion along toward theback of the bus where the“crossing”wouldend.

“We didn’t want to lookup,” he said. “That’s how youget your facehit.”

Wills said he approachedthe bus crossing in 2008 dif-ferently thanChampiondid.

“WhenIwentthroughthebus, I was very aggressive. Ikind of muscled my waythrough,” he said. “Iwas like,‘Look, thesepeoplearetryingtohurtme, tryingtohitme.’ ...Rob, he didn’t want to hurtnobody. He was very passivein his nature. He didn’t wanttopush toohard.”

When it was over, Willssaid, he sawChampion gasp-ing for breath and heard himcallingforJesus.Willssaidheyelled for someone to call 911.

Wills and the Marching100’s other four drummajorswore their band uniformsandservedasanhonorguardatChampion’s funeral insub-urbanAtlanta.He saidhedidnot want to attend, but acounselor suggested hewould regret stayinghome.

“It was rough,” he said. “Itwas the first time I’d seenRob since the incident, andhe was in a casket. I waslooking at him and ... waskind of still in denial. I waslike, ‘Yo.It’sRob.He’sgoingtocome back any second now,youknow.He’snot gone.’ ”

Wills, who was threeclasses shy of earning his de-gree in criminal justicewhenhewasexpelled fromFAMU,has pleaded not guilty, likethe 10 other defendants, tofelony hazing of Champion.Each could get five years in

prison if convicted of thethird-degree felony. Lawyersfor the others declined inter-view requests or did not re-turncalls.

Since Champion’s death,thebandhasbeensuspendedfor the 2012-13 school year;longtime band director Dr.Julian White retired unex-pectedly inMayaftermonthsof fighting for his job; andFAMU President Dr. JamesAmmons resigned lastweek.

Wills said FAMU leadersand the band’s staff couldhave stoppedhazing.

“The band staff didn’t en-couragehazing, but Iwill saythat it’s my personal opinionthata lotof times they turnedthe other cheek or [looked]away,” he said. “It was morealong the lines of just pre-tending like [they] didn’t no-tice it.”

Although he said he re-spected White, he blamedthe former band director forfailing to mete out harsherpenalties for hazing inci-dents.

“Well, honestly, I mean,we went to Dr.White [abouthazing] and told Dr. Whitethings before. . . . It was al-ways just a slap on the wristor, ‘OK, I’ll takecareof it,’ andit basically just turned into aspeech — one of thosespeeches they give the band[about hazing] that nobodypays attention to,”Wills said.

Brooke Hobbs, a spokes-woman forWhite, saidWills’comments appear “to be nomore than a self-serving at-tempt to avoid jail time.”

shudak@tribune.comor407-650-6361.dbalona@tribune.comor407-420-5470.

HAZINGContinued from Page A1

Rikki Wills, left, Robert Champion, Jonathan Boyce, Keon Hollis and Shawn Turner were drummajors in FAMU’s Marching 100. Wills, Boyce and Turner are charged with felony hazing.

COURTESY OF RIKKI WILLS

the American Muslim CommunityCenter inLongwood.

To avoid straining himself whilefasting, Fareed schedules a few weeksof vacationduringRamadan.

Early-morning prayers and long,evening festivities cut his sleep timedown to four or five hours a night, hesaid. To make up for it, he tries to takeafternoonnaps.

With the hot temperatures, dehy-dration can worsen headaches andcould trigger migraines and tirednessas the hours wear on, said Dr. AsifMohiuddin, a gastroenterologist at Or-lando Health System who observesRamadan. Drinking larger amounts ofwater in the morning can help curbthese side effects, he said. Heartburnalso can occur from fasting becausefood helps neutralize the stomach’s ac-id, he said.

Depending on a person’s diet anddaily routine, it might be possible tolose fat during a 13-hour fast, Mohiud-din said. It takes the liver on average12

to15 hourstocompletelydepleteglyco-gen, the body’s primary energy source.The body then turns to burning fat tokeep itself going, he said.

The lack of food for prolonged peri-ods of time can lead to lower blood-sugar levels that inducesleepiness,Mo-hiuddin said. Low blood sugar also re-duces the pancreas’s insulin produc-tion. With careful monitoring, fastingmay be able to help regulate high in-sulin in someType 2diabetics, he said.

But “it’s not absolutely necessary tofast if your health does not allow it,” hesaid. The religion advises the chroni-cally ill and women who are pregnantor nursing against fasting.

Muslims in Central Florida repre-sent more than 50 different countries,said Muhammad Musri, president ofthe Islamic Society of Central Florida.Sowhen it’s finally time to eat, familiesbring different traditions to the table.

Shazia Erum, who came to Orlandofrom Pakistan last year, said large din-ners with festive foods after fasting arecommon inher family.

Some families “end up cookingelaboratemeals every day,”Erumsaid.

Mohiuddin, of Indian and Pakistani

descent, said he takes it easy duringdinnerbecauseoverindulgingcouldre-duceweight loss.

Though the fast is important, mostMuslims look toward the spiritual as-pects of Ramadan and the ability tospendmore timewith their families.

“It gives this overall cover for peopleto ... improve themselves in whicheverarea of their life they need towork on,”Musri said.

“Generally people become muchmore courteous and forgiving” duringRamadan, Musri said, drawing on hisexperiences andobservations at the lo-calmosques.

“Of course, they share their experi-ences; it’s hard and hot,” he said, “butthey refrain from expressing frustra-tion and feelings of anger because theyfeel that it violates their fast.”

He added that getting families to eatat the same table every night can be “agoal in itself.”

“It helps the community as a wholewheneveryone is trying to bepositive,”Musri said.

sakhan@orlandosentinel.comor407-420-5433

RAMADANContinued from Page A1

The so-called “snipesigns” are a relatively cheapform of advertising commonat busy intersections and incommercial areas withouthomeowners to complain.They’re stuck in the turf,nailed to telephone poles,wired to stop signs andgluedto traffic-control boxes.

Local governments devotesignificant manpower tocleaning up the signs, whichviolate sign ordinances. Andcode officers fine the viola-tors if they catch them. Afirst-time violation carries a$150penalty.

But some can be tough tocatch. They often use cheapand anonymous pay-as-you-go mobile phones. Violatorssometimes claim to have noknowledgeof the signs.

“Running a lot of thesefolks down is not alwayseasy,”OrlandoCodeEnforce-ment Director Mike Rhodessaid. “A lot of them are nottypical businesses, they’refly-by-night or middlemenforotherpeople.”

Code officers aren’t theonly ones picking up thesigns. Some residents collect

them, too.The signs bother Orlando

business owner Ward Davisso much that he gathers updozenseveryweek.

“They’re litter. They’reugly, and they shouldn’t bethere,”Davis said.

They’ve long been a petpeeve of Orlando Commis-sioner Daisy Lynum, who

picks them up while on hermorning walks. When Ly-num heard that a few SouthFlorida communities re-cently began using auto-mated robocalls to pestersign violators, she pushed tobring the tactichere.

“This is a situation that’snot going to go away unlesswe do something really dra-

matic,” Lynum said. “Youmake that call every hour onthe hour to all those num-bers, you’re going to tie themup. We will become a nui-sancetothem, justastheyarea nuisance to the communi-ty.”

Orange County justlaunched its call system, andOrlando officials expect tostartwithin thenextweek.

The recorded messagessaythesignsviolatecode,andthe violator must report tocode-enforcement officesand pay a fine to make thecalls stop.

The two governments areable to add the feature totheir existing phone systemsat relatively little expense. Itwill cost Orlando 6 cents foreveryminuteof call time.

Officials say it’s toosoontoknow whether violators willpay the fines. But they hopethe callswill serve as a deter-rent.

Officials in Hollywood,Fla., saw a dramatic declinein the number of signs, somuchthatseveralothercitieshave followed suit in recentmonths.

mschlueb@tribune.com,407-420-5417 orTwitter@MarkSchlueb

SIGNSContinued from Page A1

Signs litter Goldenrod Road recently. “We pulled up 92,000signs last year,” Orange code enforcer Bob Spivey said.

MARK SCHLUEB/STAFF