It would take a forum longer than a letter to the editor to correct the half-truths and mischaracterizations in Zack Smith’s editorial about teacher unions.
Monday’s editorial endorsing the Reitz Union fee is indicative of the shortsightedness of the Alligator’s editorial staff. Yes, supporting the fee so long as graduate assistants are exempted from it seems like a good idea. I’m a teaching assistant, and I, too, find the logic that leads to this enticing because I stand to benefit from it. However, there is nothing that Student Government can do to assure us that this fee will be waived for graduate assistants. The Student Body President — Jordan Johnson now, and whoever his successor may be — is merely one member of the board of trustees and can only propose such a waiver. Moreover, as it stands on the day of an election that puts such an important matter to vote, a waiver of the Reitz Union fee for graduate assistants has not even been officially presented to the trustees. A vote in favor of this fee is a vote based merely on the fleeting hope that UF’s administration and trustees will have the goodness in their hearts to cut some slack to those who work the hardest to keep this university running.
Solutions by The State News
