Imagine our surprise when we heard UF President Bernie Machen finally decided to meet with members of Students for a Democratic Society who descended upon Tigert Hall more than a month ago.
The society demanded UF make its financial records for the UF Foundation and the UF Investment Corporation public, saying that the Florida Government in the Sunshine Law should require UF to disclose its financial information because it's a public institution.
They gave Machen and UF administration two weeks to respond to their demands. Looks like that didn't happen.
The UF Foundation and the UF Investment Corporation are exempt from the law. Student money - tuition and fees - cannot be invested by UF.
Now, the group wants Machen to approve a transparency committee that would investigate UF's investments to make sure they are socially responsible. The society thinks UF should not invest in any corporations that fund the military, tobacco or animal testing, to name a few. Bernie says he'll get back to them about the committee by the end of the month.
We hope the committee or something like it gets approved. Even though its investments aren't public to everyone, UF is still responsible to the companies it makes money off of. We're sure UF doesn't want the image that it's funded by Haliburton and Philip Morris, and as students, we don't want to go to a university that is funded by them.
