Spring has sprung, the birds are singing, the sun is shining and everyone is getting busy tanning their winter-white bodies on the Plaza of the Americas and the North Lawn. Just kidding, it’s gray and depressing once again.
So take a load off and enjoy the it’s-still-March-what’s-up-with-this-April-showers-bulls**t edition of...
Darts & Laurels
Tensions rose this week when Citizens Co-op announced the firings of five employees. According to Alligator reporting, the employees were dismissed after they used the company’s email database system for personal reasons — more specifically, in an effort to unionize.
The company has seen a tumultuous past few years. Profits are down, and so a new general manager was brought in to revive the co-op. However, protesters of the co-op said the board hasn’t been forthcoming with information about how the new manager would be paid. They claim the workplace environment at the co-op hasn’t been one of fairness and transparency, which doesn’t align with the organization’s image of a community-oriented service. On the flip side, the co-op’s leadership said the employees were laid off for various reasons, including their refusal to cooperate with an internal investigation of policy breach.
A lack of communication seems to be present here. For that, the Gainesville Citizens Co-op receives a get-it-together-y’all DART this week.
Speaking of communication: On Wednesday, a group of about 30 UF students along with more than 100 other Florida college students rallied in the Florida Capitol to lobby for student initiatives.
We reported Thursday that UF students lobbied for tuition equity and funding for the renovation of Newell Hall, thus proving that millennials aren’t the hashtagging loafs the nation believes we are.
A hooray-for-making-a-difference LAUREL goes to the UF students who rallied at the state capitol this week.
“American Horror Story” fans were delighted this week by the release of information on the upcoming season “Freaks,” which will be set in the 1950s in Jupiter, Fla., a one-horse town just north of West Palm Beach. However, the show’s camp also announced that, though the show is set in Jupiter, it will be filmed in New Orleans. What the what?!
We get that New Orleans is a great filming location, but the real Jupiter area would be the perfect setting for AHS — and probably much cheaper to film in. With so many creepy historical landmarks — like the probably-haunted Trapper Nelson campground and old Dubois house — it’s practically criminal to choose New Orleans instead.
Ryan Murphy and the AHS producers get a don’t-even-think-about-creating-a-CGI-Jupiter-Lighthouse FLART for amping up South Floridians’ hopes and then immediately dashing them.
But not all is lost. This week, the Huffington Post released a much-better-than-Buzzfeed’s list of reasons why Florida is the best state in America. For that, we’re handing the HuffPost a y’all-betta-recognize LAUREL for its quality reporting.
Go Gators!
[A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 3/28/2014 under the headline "Darts & Laurels"]
