Now that election fervor has died down, we can all go back to walking through campus without fear of harassment — er, political canvassing. Though elections are over, it’s important now more than ever to stay informed about SG goings-on in order to hold senators and executive officers accountable for the promises they’ve made.
Whew. Election aside, here it is: Your hurry-up-already-Spring-Break edition of ...
Darts & Laurels
This week, a group of UF students rallied to give a voice to the silenced — the many Venezuelans who have been injured and killed during anti-government protests. A media blackout has prevented much coverage from reaching the mainstream, so one UF student with intimate ties to the upheaval abroad decided to do something about it.
This week, we’re handing off a LAUREL to UF student Andreina Nash, who produced a video called “What’s going on in Venezuela in a nutshell” to educate people about what’s happening in her native country. The video immediately went viral, proving that small actions can make the significant impacts — to the tune of more than 2 million hits, in this case.
In Miami, a back-and-forth struggle that’s held up the release of a video police made of Justin Bieber shortly after his arrest is still in the process of getting settled.
According to The Associated Press, a judge said Thursday that he will review the police tape and determine whether some portions should be withheld from the public because of lewd content — specifically, a clip of Bieber peeing into a cup as part of a drug test.
The Bieber camp, obviously, doesn’t want any part of the tapes to see the light of day. Outraged members of the media disagree, citing a right to public records that applies to even material involving celebrities.
“The right of privacy cannot trump the right of access to public records,” said Deanna Shullman, an attorney for The Associated Press and several other media outlets. “My clients have no interest in showing Mr. Bieber’s private parts. You have to redact that and release the rest.”
That’s right! The public has a right to life, liberty and a grainy video clip of JBiebz and the cops. This week, we’re throwing a release-the-tapes-now! DART at the Miami-Dade County judge who is delaying this important video from reaching the public.
Judging by the amount of petition signers and reader mail, no one at UF is taking the removal of Jon Anderson’s Bambooville art installation lying down. And we don’t blame them: Bambooville was accessible art, available for students to experience whenever they pleased.
UF said its reasoning for forcing Anderson to dismantle Bambooville was because he didn’t go through the appropriate channels to have his art approved — though Anderson told the Alligator that he made efforts to seek approval and build Bambooville on greenhouse land.
Students are fighting back, and for that, we hand off a LAUREL to Jon Anderson and the students who are advocating for the return of Bambooville.
Have a good weekend, Gators. Wear sunscreen!
[A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 2/21/2014 under the headline “Darts & Laurels"]
