Luckily, students around campus don't take the Alligator's editorials seriously. Last Friday, in the Darts and Laurels editorial, the Alligator sent a very clear message to students when they threw a "we-don't-want-to-pay-higher-tuition-either-but-holding-picket-signs-isn't-going-to-do-anything DART to Students for a Democratic Society."
According to the Alligator, students should pack up, give in and roll over for tuition hikes because activism simply doesn't work.
It was a truly ridiculous assertion, and students didn't have to look far for evidence to the contrary. In that very same paper there were two articles that highlighted the impact that student activism has had this semester.
The first piece described a petition blitz that took place over 48 hours on Monday and Tuesday. Students for a Democratic Society collected over 1,200 signatures to put the question of tuition hikes on the Student Government ballot.
Now the students will have a chance to formally voice their opposition - just like last semester when 90 percent of the Student Body said no to block tuition.
Armed with such a huge mandate, students organized rallies and marches to Tigert Hall, culminating in the Board of Trustees decision to postpone the implementation of block tuition by a year.
If it wasn't for the awareness of concerned students all over school, block tuition wouldn't have even been up for discussion. It would have passed quietly without the Student Body knowing until it felt the disastrous effects.
This is why the UF Student Body should feel immensely proud reading the Alligator's second activism related piece, announcing that administrators are abandoning block tuition.
The continuing trend of increasing graduation rates left administrators without a leg to stand on. They have no choice but to retreat from a misguided policy that they tried to pass in the face of massive student opposition.
The students were right about block tuition, and they're right again about the 15 percent tuition increase.
Why is it that Bernie Machen is licking his lips at the prospect of tuition hikes even before the extent of the budget cuts is known? Why should students have to take out another loan or work more hours while millionaire administrators pay nothing?
Putting a stop to these tuition increases is in the interest of every student. If we learned anything from the defeat of block tuition, it should be that if the Student Body stands together, we can overcome these attacks on students.
If you're interested in helping us organize against tuition increases, you should come out to SDS on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. in Anderson Hall, Room 34.
Conor Munro is a political science and history sophomore at UF. He is an organizer with Students for a Democratic Society.
