It is reassuring to see that the Alligator editorial board appreciates the ideas behind the student-run cafe - a non-corporate, nonprofit, student-run space that serves cafe-style food and beverages at cost to consumers.
What's less reassuring is the horrible job the editorial board did formulating its opinions, which have consistently been off the mark, about the cafe. If they had actually taken the time to read the referendum, they would have seen that the student-run cafe is asking Student Government, not UF, to provide the start-up costs for the cafe.
SG may have a tight budget, but it is far from being in a budget crisis - I remember reading within the last few weeks that they've actually increased their budget to more than ,13 million this year. It is also worth noting that grants for enterprises of this nature are readily available, so the costs falling on SG's shoulders would be even less than expected.
With the money spent bringing one speaker to this school, we could fund a student-run cafe on campus serving high-end organic and fair-trade drinks on the cheap.
If you think it's about time Starbucks' monopoly on campus ended, and if you recognize the value in having a nonprofit student-run cafe on campus, this is something you need to vote "yes" for.
Maybe now that the Alligator has all the facts about this referendum, it will apologize for continually misleading its readers about it.
