Low tuition, UF's size go hand in hand
By Warren Rhea | Sep. 12, 2007It's outrageous to hear people who go to this university talking about shutting the door on those who haven't had the chance to experience it yet.
It's outrageous to hear people who go to this university talking about shutting the door on those who haven't had the chance to experience it yet.
In a recent Alligator story, one graduate housing resident expressed his view that a university ban on clotheslines represented a lack of environmental friendliness. But readers deserve to know that when this same clothesline suggestion was proposed at a Tanglewood Village community meeting, it gathered little support among residents. Why? Because Tanglewood is mainly family housing.
Satchel here, and I just wanted to thank Kyle Cox for his fine opinion piece in Tuesday's Alligator about my restaurant. You know, the most-asked question I get is "When are you going to open another location?" I don't know if I ever will. I have two small kids and a really nice life going on. I even have hobbies like gardening and painting. Opening another restaurant would simply mean driving back and forth a lot, trying to make sure both were outstanding.
I am responding to Anuradha Pandey's column in Tuesday's Alligator. She has the perfect idea of what this school should do: If we want lower faculty-student ratios and shorter lines for academic advising, we should admit fewer students. Why is it UF's responsibility to accept everyone who is qualified and jam-pack our classes so no one gets a quality education?
I'm writing in response to Vincent Massaro's bashing of Accent in Monday's column. Vincent claimed he was on Accent staff three years ago. I have one question: Bitter? His issue with Accent Speaker's Bureau must be personal because I can't believe any person would take the time or energy to complain about a U.S. senator coming to speak for free.
As the Gators football team prepares for this weekend's contest against Tennessee, I ask for your help in doing what we can as Gators fans to be equally prepared on game day. Since the Volunteers will be sporting an "orange" that is almost as faded as their success on the football field, Gators fans should make them feel as unwelcome as possible by wearing blue to Saturday's game.
Sarah Krantz, Supervisor of Elections
Timothy Powers, 7AC
Wherever UF's investment money may be going, it can't be construed to be funding the war in any manner. Money shuffled around on stock exchanges or bond markets never sees the company in question unless the stock or bond is being purchased directly from the company - a tiny, tiny fraction of trading volume and almost certainly not the case.
I am writing to say I am tired of the fans not getting loud at games until the opposing offense is lined up. By that time, all calls have been made, and we're not very disruptive to their game plan. The good teams, such as Tennessee, will be going with silent counts, hand signals, etc. The crowd needs to be loud when the offense is in the huddle, so it's hard for the opposing team to hear the play and snap count.
I'm writing in response to Colleen Shea's article in the Friday Alligator. I'm a huge football fan, but I'm not writing to bash her at all. In fact, I thought Ms. Shea's article was very creative and a fun read. What I want to comment on is the fact that her article brings up another valid point: I'm one of the many seniors here at UF who did not receive student tickets this year.
After some consideration, I must admit I agree with the critics of Students for a Democratic Society's Wednesday protest. We should have done our homework and opened up a thesaurus to see "university" and "corporation" listed side by side as synonyms. I guess we missed a step and forgot that universities are no longer educational institutions, but money-making machines.
It was interesting to read the Wednesday Alligator's pro-tuition-increase editorial. I am sure I am not the only one who found it bizarre. The editorial first demanded that UF wants an increase in tuition. Who exactly is "UF" anyway? It is obviously not the students, the majority of whom do not want to pay any more money to the school than they or their parents already do. Some students support an increase, but only if that money is guaranteed to be directed toward need-based grants for students or new faculty hires. The editorial said 12 student government leaders from Florida's public universities went to Tallahassee to talk with Gov. Charlie Crist, and, "about half of the leaders said they would support a tuition increase if it went toward reducing class size or providing need-based scholarships." The editorial also stated Crist did not listen to the students because in May he vetoed a 5 percent tuition increase.
An editorial headline told us that Wednesday's demonstration for transparency was pointless and that it "didn't accomplish much." As a member of Students for a Democratic Society and an organizer of the protest, I'd like to point out that we actually accomplished every one of our objectives for the day.
Thanks for being so one-sided about the protest. Maybe the Alligator should do its homework before reacting so quickly as well.
As a lifelong Gators fan and UF student, I did not have much fun at last week's football game versus Western Kentucky University. My girlfriend and I had good seats - about 25 rows up - and we were close to the action with a good view. When it was time for kickoff, everyone stood up, and a fun time was to be had by all, right?
As the Florida Gators prepare to take the field this season, you can be part of the team and help show other schools why UF is number one. UF is in a voter registration competition with all Florida public universities.
That didn't take long. Call me cynical, but I'm not surprised the Alligator editorial board has started holding Greeks to a separate standard from other students just a week into the fall semester. Underage drinking is illegal. So is smoking pot. But is what happened at Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity any different from what probably happened at dozens of Gainesville apartments that same night?
I am writing in response to Monday's article, "UF band marches on." I can relate to Scarlet Basler's frustrations in being assigned to play a sousaphone after years at the oboe. I joined the Gator Band in 1961 having played trumpet and baritone in high school, only to find all of those positions filled. I was asked to join the crew of the Big Bass Drum, a six-foot drum that sat on a large rolled carriage.