I think it is appalling the UF Student Body president is supporting large tuition increases without any guarantees from the administration that these funds will go toward items that will directly benefit students, especially considering the current state of the economy.
Isn't it hilarious that on the same day that the Alligator prints the rants of a representative for College Democrats and a representative from Gators for McCain, it runs an editorial decrying the bipartisan trash talking of political hacks?
Like President Bush cherry-picking intelligence reports to show Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, Gerald Liles cherry-picks stats in his latest column to assert that the American dream is alive and well, although nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that working Americans have been at the job longer and working harder for wages that have been relatively stagnant since the Vietnam War.
I was glad to see the article in Monday's Alligator on UF's billion-dollar endowment. Since the '80s, students have had to deal with increasing debt as tuition rates continue to rise faster than inflation. With this rise in tuition comes the inflated salaries of school administrators and university endowments reaching into the billions.
In light of the fact that funding for many UF departments is being cut to the bone, UF professors are underpaid and overworked, state funding for higher education is being cut every year and our economy is, by many estimates, on the verge of entering a recession, isn't it good to know that we here at UF have one of the highest-paid university presidents in the country?
UF's decision to postpone Kevorkian's talk is so reactionary. What message is this sending? Maybe we are being punished, and the powers-that-be do not have the confidence that we can listen to some old geezer speak about death without asking some pointed questions.
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.
Solutions by The State News
