Lamar Thomas

The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key. As of 2009, the university currently enrolls 15,629 students... in 12 separate colleges, including a medical school, law school, and a school focused on the study of oceanography and atmospheric sciences. These colleges offer approximately 115 undergraduate, 114 master’s, 51 doctoral, and two professional areas of study. Over the years, the University's students have represented all 50 states and close to 150 foreign countries. With more than 13,000 full and part-time faculty and staff, UM is the sixth largest employer in Miami-Dade County. Research is a component of each academic division, with UM attracting $326 million per year in sponsored research grants. UM also offers a large library system with over 3.1 million volumes and exceptional holdings in Cuban heritage and music.
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Ocala is a city in Marion County, Florida. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 53,491. It is the county seat of Marion County and the principal city of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2007 population of 324,857. Ocala is located... near the site of Ocale or Ocali, a major Timucua village and chiefdom during the 16th century. The modern city takes its name from the historical village, the name of which is believed to mean "Big Hammock" in the Timucua language. Hernando de Soto passed through Ocale during his famous expedition through what is today the southeastern United States in 1539. Ocale is not mentioned in any later accounts; it appears to have been abandoned in the wake of de Soto's attack. In 1827 the U.S. military outpost of Fort King was established near the present site of Ocala as a buffer between Seminoles and white settlers. The fort saw service during the Second Seminole War and later acted as the first courthouse for Marion County in 1844. Fort King was the genesis of the modern city of Ocala, which was established in 1846. Greater Ocala is known as the "Kingdom of the Sun".
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