It was once said that "a basic tenet of a healthy democracy is open dialogue and transparency." I can proudly say that democracy must be alive and well, because I have had one of the most engaging dialogues with the student body in the past week than I have had in a long time.
Passing health care reform is the Democratic Party's ultimate panacea, but failing to do so, and failing publicly, would be President Obama's "waterloo," as Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., opined earlier this summer.
Bernie Machen can't make up his mind about drinking.
I'm tired of people being enraged at the few Christians who actually follow what the good book commands. In the same way evangelicals say, "Don't hate the sinner, hate the sin," I say, "Don't hate the Christian."
In Friday's edition of the Alligator, Student Body Treasurer Maryam Laguna wrote that after a temporary gap in delivery, The New York Times would be restored to newspaper boxes on campus starting Monday. However, what she neglected to mention is that despite the temporary return of the Times, the paper's readership program still has been cut from the next proposed Student Government budget.
If you're anything like us, fall is one big wake-up call (and if you're even more like us, you totally missed your 7 a.m. wake-up call on Monday).
After hearing many people voice their concerns over the possible funding decreases from our Collegiate Readership Program, I wanted to take this opportunity to set the record straight on a few things and hopefully assuage some of your fears.
What incredible happy news I first thought from reading the Alligator headlines on Aug. 27: "Machen: No more cuts." On the Web site version, I found a less misleading headline for the story: "Machen predicts end to budget cuts." The "end" of budget cuts will happen after we have "more" budget cuts. I liked the positive quotes from Machen: "economy seems to be stabilized," "gonna be a positive year after a 'negative year.'" All preceded by he's "ready to predict there will be no more cuts to UF's budget next spring."
What a surprise. President Machen doesn't like Budweiser marketing orange and blue beer cans in Gainesville.
Why is it that our Student Government does not allow students to know what is going on? During my time at UF, I have seen a Student Government steeped in mystery and one that rarely interacts with the student body. I have seen SG officials ignore students, break the law and show an overall discontent for the issues facing us. As the lawsuit filed by Frank Bracco demonstrates, SG does not want us to know what is going on. SG has not only denied individuals the right to know what happens at public meetings, but it even goes so far as to not allow students to have the voting records of our elected officials, including our Student Body president who sits on the Board Of Trustees.
At Tuesday night's meeting of the Student Senate, the Unite Party passed a bill called the Executive Order Establishment Act, a bill that represents a serious threat to the democratic process within Student Government.
This is in response to Casey Peterson's letter to the editor, "Students should root for Rays," expressing the belief that his dedication to the Tampa Bay Rays somehow reflects the dedication of all Rays fans.
Tuesday was a sad day for democracy within UF Student Government. In that night's meeting, the Student Senate voted to keep giving top SG officials perks that are out of reach for ordinary students. They also illegally moved several powers of the Senate to the Unite-controlled executive branch, essentially creating the new office of Student Body Dictator.
I was very disturbed to read in Wednesday's Alligator Progress Party Leader David Schneider's blatant intellectual dishonesty. To say that giving the Student Body president the unilateral ability "to create executive orders to create offices, departments and policies" would "discourage too much centralization of one power," as the article stated, is exactly the opposite of what is going to happen.
When I arrived on campus early Monday morning, I immediately headed to the newspaper dispensers near Turlington to get my copy of the New York Times. They only held copies of USA Today. I assumed that particular dispenser was simply out of the New York Times, so I checked the one near Library West. Again, only USA Today.
Drinking and driving is bad - there is no denying that fact. As somebody who files claims for an insurance company, I have heard the horror stories from the victims' families first-hand. I agree that Fabulous Rides sounds like a fabulous program and the student body president ought to be commended for trying to promote awareness of its existence in an effort to reduce drunk driving. However, his approach sells the dangers short.
The Dove World Outreach Center has already blurred the lines between a church and a for-profit enterprise and the lines between a place of "outreach" and a place that calls for exclusion.
Students who want to celebrate their return to Gainesville will have a chance to do so safely on Wednesday night.
Sometimes, I think about how much the next generation will change because of the Internet, and I feel old in anticipation.
A 2-year-old girl getting strangled by her parents' escaped Burmese python should finally convince Florida to ban the sale of dangerous reptiles.
Solutions by The State News
