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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Wearing a Gator Party T-shirt and khaki shorts, Ryan Moseley sat calmly on his couch with about a week left in his Reitz Union office.

During his year-long tenure, the UF Student Body president has hit all but one of the 22 promises on his platform. The one that got away? Minus grades.

While Moseley advocated that minus grades would be bad for UF, they were approved by UF's Faculty Senate and will be a part of the grading system starting Spring 2009.

But he said he feels good about what he has done during his term and about completing other projects not included in his original platform, which focused on "tangible benefits."

A completed goal some students are making use of this week is extended library hours during final exams.

Moseley said it has been one of the most successful programs, which debuted in the fall and expanded to two libraries this semester. It is expected to continue as long as students keep poring over books at libraries until 4 a.m.

Moseley's administration also wanted to rid some worry from students about which apartment complex to sign a lease with. About half of the apartment complexes that attended the fall SG-sponsored Housing Fair will bear the SG seal of approval, which he said will assure students that those companies have fair leasing practices.

"Students will be more comfortable," Moseley said. "It's a big benefit."

Along with trying to makes students' lives easier and promoting sustainability, Moseley's administration set up a UF book market Web site.

Students can use their GatorLink login to buy and sell textbooks using a classifieds feature and to sign up to be e-mailed when they've been outbid.

Moseley, who also serves on the Board of Trustees, UF's highest governing body, said one of his most gratifying accomplishments was the investigation of professors who benefit financially from CD course packs, a project he has been working on since before he was president.

Moseley's suggested changes to UF's current policy would lend a break to students in classes requiring a costly CD or course pack. The changes would require the board's approval before going into effect.

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The change could require a professor to provide a borrowed copy of a book to a student who said he or she couldn't afford one and provide basic class materials, including a syllabus, in a regular format for all students.

To save money, he said a more permanent band shell on Flavet Field with a 50-year guarantee would soon be built. Moseley said it's a long-term investment meant to save the $100,000 fee to build a temporary venue every time there is an event on the field needing a stage.

In December, Moseley was halfway through his term and his goals, including reviving Chomp the Vote, an SG program designed to increase student turnout at all elections.

More than 2,100 students were registered to vote through the program this year, and about 20,000 voting registration forms were made available at local apartment complexes and on-campus residences.

Last year, less than 100 students were registered to vote with the program.

Another major project was installing a Global Positioning System, or GPS, on Regional Transit System buses. Moseley said all 50 or 60 buses are already equipped with the system, and the Web site where students can track a bus's route in real time will be up by the first week of May.

"One of the big complaints with SG in general is that we're not reaching out to students," Moseley said.

But he said his platform has. Still, Moseley's completion of nearly all of his goals wasn't enough for some of his critics.

Tommy Jardon, a UF law student who ran for Student Body president with the Orange and Blue Party this semester, said installing GPS on buses is a "gimmicky" initiative and a waste of money.

"They only consider it a job well done if they've spent a lot of students' money," Jardon said. "For all I know, some of those 22 goals could've been done better or shouldn't have been done at all."

He said Moseley's administration could've done many more practical projects including replacing UF's WebMail system with Google's Gmail.

As for Kevin Reilly, Student Body President elect and former Student Senate president, Jardon said he looks forward to holding the candidate he ran against accountable for his platform promises.

Reilly was sworn in on Thursday and will take office on May 1.

Reilly could not be reached for comment.

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