“It’s time.” That simple phrase means more than just a great video produced by the Student Alliance party. It represents a fundamental change from politics as usual in Student Government. When 80 percent of students do not vote in SG elections, it’s not hard to wonder why they feel SG is out of touch at best and disingenuous at worst when it comes to hearing student voices.
It’s time for students to receive real information about the proposed Reitz Union fee. This fee will not be covered by Bright Futures or Florida Prepaid. This fee is being forced upon students in the middle of the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. This fee is being imposed for an uncertain and undisclosed amount of time. The Unite Party and the Reitz Union Board of Managers (composed of Unite Party appointees) wholeheartedly endorse and support reaching into your wallet when other sources of funding, such as Florida’s Capital Improvements Trust Fund, are available. Alarmingly, the Unite Party is actively promoting confusion about the facts of the fee. They claim the fee is for $42.5 million in “repairs” to the Reitz Union while quietly sneaking in that they want to construct a more than $80 million dollar expansion to the Reitz Union. That adds up to more than $120 million they expect students to pay for at the end of the day.
The Student Alliance party believes that by enacting simple waste-cutting measures in the SG budget, and by reaching out to alternative sources of funding, we can pay for the repairs to the Reitz Union at no additional student cost. Reaching into students’ wallets as the first course of action is unacceptable and just plain wrong, especially in our tough economic times. In addition to redirecting mismanaged funds from the SG budget, the Student Alliance party will work with the University Athletics Association and prominent alumni to increase student organization space in the Reitz Union without an egregious fee being imposed on the Student Body. One proposal from the Student Alliance party involves moving the Reitz Union Hotel to the half-constructed building across from the stadium on University Avenue. This relocation will free up two floors’ worth of space in the current Reitz Union while maintaining the service of the hotel, increasing revenues for the union and SG. The Unite Party and the current administration have called imposing this unnecessary fee increase and expansion project their “legacy.” But let me be clear: The only “legacy” this fee increase will leave is a legacy of debt.
It’s time for SG to work on behalf of students and student organizations. Student Alliance party has more than 70 meaningful and well-explained ideas on its platform. You can visit www.ufstudentalliance.com to learn about how we plan on protecting your wallet, protecting your Bright Futures and giving student organizations the ability to meaningfully increase their budgets. At the end of the day, your vote does matter, and you do have a choice. You can stand by as more money is taken out of your pocket, or you can take two minutes on Feb. 23 or 24 to make your voice heard in SG.
Rafael A. Yaniz is the the Student Alliance candidate for Student Body treasurer.
