Historically, the Alligator has chosen to endorse one party over another within Student Government.
This semester, however, the editorial board has decided to endorse platform points from each party. These promises are what their campaigns are based on — especially in an election without executive candidates — so the Alligator wanted to take a closer look at some of the proposed projects.
Both the Swamp Party and Students Party basically agreed in four areas: expanding free printing with more locations and more stations, promoting sustainability efforts, increasing awnings and shelters at bus stops and providing more resources to UF students who own bicycles. The Alligator thinks all of these areas could use improvement, and we commend both parties on identifying these student needs.
We were especially impressed by the Swamp Party’s initiative to add self-service bike stations at residence halls. Those would get some serious use from students who live both on- and off-campus.
The Alligator’s editorial board also supports the Students Party’s proposed implementation of a waiting-list system for ISIS class registration. We think this would result in a smoother process for all students. Everyone knows stalking ISIS is no fun.
The Swamp Party suggested adding screens at the Hub displaying RTS bus-route tracking. Because the Hub is such a high-traffic area for bus-goers as well as campus visitors, the board supports this measure and feels it would benefit a large number of UF students — especially those without smartphones.
The Students Party also proposed bringing The New York Times and USA Today readership programs back to campus. For obvious reasons, the editorial board wholeheartedly supports this. Many students, faculty and staff took advantage of this service, and we’re disappointed by SG’s mishandling of billings for those programs.
Finally, we support the Students Party’s proposed zero-based budgeting plan. Under zero-based budgeting, funding for all student and academic organizations would begin at zero each year, and committees would evaluate the size and scope of each organization before determining how much funding would be allocated to each organization.
But the editorial board didn’t agree with either party’s proposed measures related to BlueLight’s presence on campus. The Students Party said it wanted to invest in repairs of certain BlueLight poles on campus, and the Swamp Party is promoting its UF-tailored BlueLight App — which is still in development.
Before moving forward, the Alligator asks that SG investigate the efficiency of the existing BlueLight poles. It’s unclear how many of them are used and how many crimes they’ve effectively stopped. As for the BlueLight App, there’s already one available on both the App Store and Google Play. In most cases, the board feels, students are more likely to dial 911 rather than try to find a BlueLight pole or open an app.
Bottom line, Gators: It’s your university, your SG and your dollars. Research the candidates in your district, read each party’s platform and vote!
A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 10/1/2013 under the headline "From the board: Fall 2013 SG endorsement"
