Reitz Rambler

Voting starts with a glitch

2005-09-27T08:01:00.000-05:00

As the red and blue swamp the campus today, clogging the main campus arteries with outstretched arms of platforms, stickers and promises galore, voting begins in the most contested Fall election I have seen in my four years here. Paper ballots and felt-tipped markers have been replaced with gatorlink logins and checkboxes clicked by mouse. Write-in ballots need not be requested because the option is on every voter ballots leading me to believe that we may very well see an increase in the number write-ins.

Despite this increased attention and competition, there still were some glitches. By 8:25AM 12 students had shown up, 2 had left and 10 remained waiting to vote at the 3rd floor Reitz Union polling location. Chris Cupoli could be seen scrambling to get the computers to work, hoping that a wave of his blackberry would fix all problems. However, the problem was contained to the Reitz Union and the Law School, with all other locations seemingly working as planned.

Initial reactions:

Pros: Saves money over paper ballots, ballots can't run out, voters can vote at any polling location eliminating confusion, write-ins are easier and you are sure of who you voted for and that your vote was processed.
Cons: Can't access the website from home and others can see who I am voting for over my shoulder.

Summary: Research the positions and experience of the candidates running for your district and make an informed decision. Take the new voting system for a spin and discuss its merits in the comments section of this post.

Wednesday Update

2005-09-07T09:43:00.000-05:00

University of Florida specialty plate stays at #3 in 2004 rankings, Florida State University falls to number 6.
Santa Rosa County, Florida, approve the sale of wine and hard liquor by a mail ballot, however, you still can't buy liquor in Gainesville on Sunday. Sounds like it is time for a mail out ballot.
Gator football ranked #10 in both AP and USA Today polls.

Rush KYX

2005-08-29T00:35:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not know, IFC Rush is this week. More information on that process can be found at www.greekgator.com . For those of you not looking for the traditional fraternity experience, check out KYX, a relatively new but growing Christian fraternity on campus. Information from their press release follows:

Kappa Upsilon Chi, a national fraternity for Christian men is announcing the dates and times for fall recruitment 2005. Recruitment week will begin on Tuesday September 6, 2005 and run through Monday September 12, 2005.
The process begins on Tuesday evening with an informal rush night at the Christian Study Center (formerly known as The Ox) located behind the Baptist Collegiate Ministries off of University Ave. from 8:00PM until 10:00PM. If you are unable to attend another informal rush night will be held on Wednesday September 7, 2005 at the Baptist Collegiate Ministries from 7:00PM-9:00PM. It is required to attend one of these events to continue with the recruitment process.
After informal recruitment is closed, invitations will be extended for those who rush to attend Formal Recruitment on Friday evening. From there, an interview will be scheduled for Sunday and bids will be extended on Sunday evening.
Kappa Upsilon Chi is seeking Christian men who are looking to grow in their relationship with their Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Kappa Upsilon Chi was founded in 1993 on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas to combine the best of Christianity with collegiate tradition. Since, the fraternity has grown to ten campuses, including the University of Florida and Florida State University.
The Theta chapter, located on the campus of the University of Florida was established in 2004 by six men with a vision for a Christian fraternity on campus.
“It seems as if the movie ‘Animal House’ has forever left its mark on college campuses nationwide by creating the mental image that perhaps everyone thinks of when they hear the work “fraternity”: drinking, girls, and wild antics,” Gary Bernau, chapter president, said. “This fraternity, however, is out to change that. After our first rush we have already started raising eyebrows and turning heads. We are different.”

Welcome back.

2005-08-24T14:11:00.000-05:00

Today at Subway: I'll have a coke. Is Pepsi ok? That's right .... it is a new year complete with a whole new freshman class and a new soft drink provider. The Gainesville Sun campus edition silently premiered in fancy new boxes while the Alligator was on the offensive handing out papers containing a scathing page 23 comparison. The Sun's coverage of campus was dismal at best (section A breakdown: only 6 non-wire stories out of 16) and it is my hope future editions will have more campus content written by students. The Alligator was huge, containing many stories from the summer -- I only wish the paper was that large every day! Finally today was a day of seeing a million people you havent seen in a few months and remembering just how many people go to UF. It was hot, it was busy - but it was Gainesville. Welcome back.

The Way I See It # 22

2005-08-05T22:54:00.000-05:00

From a Starbucks cup ...

Everywhere, unthinking mobs of "independent thinkers" wield tired cliches like cudgels, pummeling those who dare question "enlightened" dogma. If "violence never solved anything," cops wouldn't have guns and slaves may never have been freed. If it's better that 10 guilty men go free to spare one innocent, why not free 100 or 1,000,000? Cliches begin arguments, they don't settle them. -- Jonah Goldberg (Editor-at-large of National Review Online)

Wait a minute ... A STARBUCKS CUP SAID THAT? It's hard for me to tell if they are just trying to get their customers so riled up that they will come back to buy more shade-grown, fair-trade organic coffee or if they are actually serious. Anyway, exams are over and moving season begins. In a few short weeks a new group of UF students will decend on Gainesville, each of them shaping campus into the college experience they expect ... but until then it is time to relax. Have fun and see you all in the fall.

Florida, 3 states in 1.

2005-08-03T09:20:00.000-05:00

Here are two courses I've had my eye out for ever since I started my career at UF several years ago:

Florida to 1845 (AMH 3421) - Exploration and settlement, colonial history of Spanish and British Florida, U.S. territorial days to statehood.

Florida Since 1845 (AMH 3423) - Statehood and secession, Civil War, Reconstruction, reform and reaction, Progressive Era, boom and bust, diversification and growth of Florida since World War II.

You would think that both would be offered on a frequent basis since this is, well, the University of Florida. However, much to my dismay, this Fall is the first time I have seen either of them offered (Florida to 1845 will be taught on Tuesdays and Thurdays this fall). Unfortunately I don't have room in my schedule for it plus, before you get your hopes up, the class if full. It would be a good one to monitor during drop/add though.

Florida as far as I am concerned is really three seperate states: South Alabama (SA), South Georgia (SG) and Southern New York / Northern Cuba (SNYNC). SA & SG are enough alike to be a cohesive state, however SNYNC is nothing like the rest of the state. SNYNC has the majority of the states population (with the exclusion of Jacksonville in SG) and SA/SG have the majority of the states ... trees. SNYNC has capital, SA/SG has the capitol. The list goes on and on. But what is the point of all this discussion? The state has a very diverse population, with much of it being very new to the state. It is extremely important that the state's K-12 and Higher Education systems be educating their students in local history so that they have a sense of understanding and a belonging to the state instead of just a particular region. So that means incorporating Florida curriculum at each level, and in our world, I propose required Florida History classes as part of the General Education Requirements at UF. Those are my thoughts, now feel free to comment away with yours.

Hopefully Florida Since 1845 will be taught in the Spring.

It's like...thefacebook.

2005-07-30T13:17:00.000-05:00

So CNN finally carried the story, even if its about a year late. Check out this video about thefacebook.com. You can see Mark Zuckerberg, the like ... creater of thefacebook. Although what he made is cool, he seems to have a problem avoiding the use of "like" when he speaks. He may go to Harvard, but he doesn't speak like it. RR forgives him though due to his significant contribution to society.

Kappa Alpha Order at UF Suspended.

2005-07-29T18:48:00.000-05:00

The National Headquarters of Kappa Alpha Order suspended the charter of the UF chapter last night at 6 pm. Representatives from the local alumni and volunteers from the Headquarters met with the House Director, Chapter President, and members of the chapter who were in town to inform them. This decision came after the Headquarters investigated allegations of hazing that occurred in the spring semester. The suspension is for two years with the ability to return to campus in fall 2007.

The University will still need to conduct a hearing by the Greek Judicial Board into the allegations of hazing. The alumni will represent the organization since there are no undergraduate members of the organization at this point.

Thus, effective immediately, there is no longer an active chapter of Kappa Alpha Order at the University of Florida.

The above message was sent anonymously by a reader of this blog. For commentary on this issue, please see 1710's and GDI's coverage. To submit an anonymous tip, please e-mail reitzrambler@gmail.com.

Gatorlink!

2005-07-27T13:58:00.000-05:00

For those of you who like to stand up in senate and announce to the world that you like to share your password with anyone who wants it you might want to consider the following:

Your GatorLink account is for your use only. You must not let anyone else use your account. You are responsible for all activities that originate from your computer account.
You are responsible for the security of your password. You should choose passwords that cannot be easily guessed. Passwords should not be written down, stored in a file, or shared with others.
You are responsible for understanding, following, and keeping up to date with Gatorlink service policies.
You have a right to use GatorLink services without being harassed by other users. Report all incidents to abuse@ufl.edu.
The minimum action for violation of these policies may be an oral or written warning from a GatorLink Management staff member. Additional actions can include reporting the activity to the user's instructor or department, or to the Office of Student Affairs, or the appropriate law-enforcement agency.
Any infraction could result in the loss of access to computer services and facilities.

When you registered your gatorlink account you agreed to all of this and more (Read the Policies for use of Gatorlink). Last night some senators used the fact that they knew their brother's gatorlink info or that half the room knew their gatorlink info to con unrestricted, or universal online voting. So not only are you stupid, but you are also violating University Policies. Glad to know we have senators who are educated on the issues they are voting on.

Liveblogging from Senate

2005-07-26T18:11:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Senate meeting tackles the online voting issue, so why not implement some live-blogging tonight. So here goes:

Public Debate

7:10 PM: Sharpless says low turnout to the senate meeting means that students don't care. I think that means it's summer.

7:12 PM: Bovell says she is in support of secure at this point in time and encourages senators to vote for what their constituents would want. Sounds good to me.

7:13 PM: Henriques thanks averyone ahead of time for taking the time to consider this bill and hopes that senators will consider each of her amendments seperately and in the best interests of the students. She doesn't think the committees recommendation best represents what the student body wants. She urged senators to represent their constituents.7:16

7:16 PM: Atkins supports onsite online voting. He is on a vacation from senate for preview. He urges senators to remember their platforms from Spring and think about what their constitutents would want if they were in here, and of course, go gators!

7:17 PM: Hernandez said last night his dog bear ate his sandals. It hurts because he is a surfer. The legislation offered tonight deserves your attention and respect and to consider what is best for the students both from the students have voiced concerns and the facts in the case as well.

7:20 PM: Semmel thought tonight was a senate meeting not Lutin's Bar Mitzva. He congratulates the committee. He says in his time he has similiar committees in the past but this is the first time a bill on this matter has reached the floor. He supports it, that is why he is a sponsor. He talked about absentee ballot and how that is similar to unsecure voting because it doesn't allow you to have a secret ballot. He has never seen research that shows that the increased turnout from unsecure online voting outweighs the security concerns.

7:23 PM: Patrone sat through 7 hours of meetings on sunday and enjoyed the debate. He is a sponsor. He thinks it means a lot that all 3 party leaders are sponsors of the bill (Impact, Gator and Access). He thinks we need to approach apathy not just the method of voting. Good point.

7:25 PM: Nelson said that when you make your own decision that is democracy. He is a good speaker, he should run for Student Body President. He was on the committee. He thinks secure site is a leap in the right direction. He provided us with some theatrics about market street, gatorlink passwords and underage drinking. He is concerned that fraud could have cost John Boyles his seat because it was won by 4 votes.

7:29 PM: Redden is a concerned freshman. Tonight we have an opportunity to make history. He thinks that we need to have secure site elections to preserve the integrity of the vote. He didn't write this, he has been at UF 4 weeks and has never experienced an election. He spoke some about increasing the access to vote in American History.

7:36 PM: Wilicki urges senators to vote for the bill to get our foot in the door on this issue. We should go in the right direction and compare unsecured to secured next year. Right now we need to pass this to make the committees time worthwile.

7:37 PM: Moritz urged senators to pass something tonight. He hasn't done any public speaking in a while.

7:40 PM: Cullin pulled out her voting id card (it has a huge R on it) and said that is all that she needs to vote for president. Passwords control her money and her schedule. She can be sent to war by a president she voted for just with a slip of paper (voter registration), why should uf sg elections be harder to vote for than the US president. She says at the end of the day we need to get more people to the polls and unsecure voting does just that. She says village communities was decided by 2 votes ... out of 4. She made a good argument for unsecure site voting.

7:45 PM: Armstead said he likes unsecure.

Presidents Report

Goldberg said his report was going to be short. He went to a retreat for the Board of Trustees and an FSA meeting. Last week applications for the student representative on the CPA board ... this is good it was a part of the original riders of the paying for the student tickets. Joe is going to be looking into the whole 2.6% credit card usage fee on ISIS and will be meeting with the administration later this week.

Gainesville Sun committee chair Belle talked about how they are going to be advertising the Gainesvilel Sun Readership program. Traditional advertising methods plus a possible commerical at growl.

Goldberg is taking no position on the bill but will when it reaches his desk. He thanks the committee for their work on this issue. He also said he had an opportunity to meet Marlett and that he wanted to get it on the record that he is a nice guy.

Vice-Presidents Report

Senators should come 15 minutes early to next week's meeting for website pictures. Acceleration will be doing the new website. FSA was successful. She encourages a healthy debate. A meeting about the website will be held soon.

Treasurers Report

She will have more information next week.

Senate Presidents Report

She is in support of online voting that is why she established the committee. She is leaving unsecure vs. secure up to you. She encourages senators to vote for the students who are not in the room but we would like to participate. This meeting will not be our latest meeting tonight, we have been here until 2PM before. She reminds us that tonight is not the final vote and that there is a second reading next week. If it is changed in the sencond reading there will have to be a third reading and therefore it will not be ready for the Fall elections

Chan from the Parking and Transportation Committee talked about bus shelters.

Pro-Temp Report

John just smiled and said a lot of word about replacement seats but really said wouldn't I make a great senate president in a few months?" There are some open seats the applications are due by 5PM Friday, interviews will be on Sunday. He thanks everybody.

Budget Chair's Report

Be nice tonight and don't curse! She told a story about a 5 minute scooter ride from home to school. A bug flew into her shirt and was flying around on her ride over but she couldn't take off her shirt so she just untucked it and luckily it flew out. Then she talked about FCA's request for money for meeting space due the lack of space to meet because of the University Corners construction. They requested to meet in touchdown terrrace for 29 weeks. It was a lot of money so it was tabled and they were asked to come back with some more options. She talked about the A&S Fee hearings and that it is very difficult because of the minimum wage increase and its effect on the Reitz Union and Rec Sports and also rising utility costs. Next meeting will be this Saturday at 9PM, Room 284. Thanks to those who weren't on the committee that actually coming to the meeting. Thanks to the committe for rocking. She is very proud of the committee for holding in there with no experience. There will be a normal budget meeting this Sunday at 6PM. FCA will probably be back now. She supports the online voting in case she runs for Treasurer next year. Basketball tournament this weekend, budget's color is pink. They won last year.

Allocation Chair's Report

He was wearing a tuxedo. He choose to wear it because it doesn't require a belt and he is always made fun of for not wearing a belt. Allocations did not meet because there were no requests. The Alcohol committee was discussed but I wasn't listening. He talked about boss tweed in Chicago messing with voters and he supports secure site because he doesn't want Tweed to come to UF.

Judiciary Committee

They tabled a bill about the VISA/Fee Increase so that it could be rewritten to address policy. 700 codes changes passed and is on the floor. Online voting passed and is on the floor. He thanks everyone for their hard work. Keep discussion respectable. Don't call out specific people and instead attack arguments. Thursday 5pm bills are due meeting at sunday at 5. He asked us to throw out Ms. Cullin's good points because he didn't like them.

Rules & Ethics

Excused absences were voted on. They passed as a block. Sunsplash 2005 report will be next week. Jamie challenged Jackie to come up with a wager. Jamie encouraged senators to say whatever they wanted to say tonight -- especially what is in their heart.

I & C

V........a reported that the basketball will be on Saturday at 3 on court 4 of southwest rec. Send her your wagers!

2nd Readings

They were very fast. No questions and call that previous question. Hurry, hurry Swamp is closing soon.

700 Codes First Readings

Our new supervisor of election presented the changes. He suggested post-qualifying that allows a party to replace holes in their slate with independents if a member of their slate steps down. He also moved the deadline for a party to register to before slating. Also a claification about excuses for meeting the mandatory candidates meeting. No discussion, passed.

Online Voting First Reading

Hernandez: 3 months of dilligent hard work by the voting members committees. Blah blah blah our committee picked secure site because it is great and has no negatives. Can he survive this political hand grenade he was thrown? This is his first test as a candidate for Student Body President.

Kerr: Although we realize unsecure voting would increase turnout we can't suffer integrity.

Adelle: Same thing. We will increase turnout because you can vote at any polling location.

Sundeep (Moonshallow): He knows his brothers gatorlink info who doesn't vote. I bet he voted in the Spring election though! Someone sitting near me informed me he never attended a committee meeting. He is for this bill.

Nelson didn't want to take up any more time since he spoke before.

Oloshula: We didn't go into this willy nilly. We approached this unbiased and explored every option. Even if secure isn't where you want to go it is a step in the right direction.

Hernandez: Kevin Bacon can't be here because of an exam but he is for it and represents all of Impact (right). Hernandez used a progress pun. Hernandez wants us to vote for secure site in memory of his sandals he lost to bear.

Question Time

Someone asked how secure site would actually operate at the polling place. He used hand gestures alot in explaining. Someone asked why someone couldn't access the ballot from a non secure site and vote. He said Accellerated data works will take care of everything, wink.

Prokes, add me as a sponsor I want to run again.

Patrone: If this bill is passed does that mean we have to use secure site? Hernandez: Nah dawg, the supervisor could still run a paper ballot if they wanted too.

Semmel offered a friendly amendment on the bill to correct some numbering. Some say this is a plan to limit the number of amendments that can be added later. The Judiciary chair objected so it must be presented formally.

Belle: Was the scenario presented by Rawal a crime? Hernandez: I'm not a supreme court justice and I'm not going to answer your question. Shouldn't you be running for something or at least making a movie about it or something?

Now Boyles is writing out the steps of voting in a secure site on the whiteboard. Boyles handwritting is ok, but he is going to need to work on it if he wants to be SBP. Diane getting John to scribe as Hernandez dictates is just too hilarious. Diane is making John look under Jared, and Jared under Diane. Tricky, tricky, tricky. Vote Diane for SBP in Spring 06. Right.

Is the system to be used for secure site be usable for unsecure. Hernandez: Sure, we just chuck a few bucks at acellerated, wink again, and they will make it work for us.

How many polling locations will be used? Hernandez: Shrugs, hell if I know - it is up to the Supervisor. I won't answer about the advantages of secure over paper because it is debateable. Sundeep: Debateable? Whatever! I could vote anywhere compared to my one current polling location!

When would this go in to place? Fall if you pass it now.

Amendment 1

Susan: Lets make unsecure online voting an actual option.

Questions

Belle does this mean that we have to use unsecure? Susan: Nope just makes it an option for the Supervisor of election.

Pro-Con

Some dude: I can vote on my cell phone. Get 50 feet away from me if your a candidate or a campaigner.

Belle, PRO: WTF are these people saying that ISIS isn't secure. Let students take voting into their own responsiblity. He also brought up IP restrictions.

Stone, CON: My hair and glasses are cool. The integrity is lost when you vote at home. Right, because my room isn't secure ... it only has 3 locks on it.

Lutin, CON: Half the people in the room know my password. Are you stupid?

Belle, PRO: The way people are voting is changing. Last alachua county election 1/3 of people voted absentee or by early voting.

Susan, 1-minute sumation: Did you guys check your e-mails before the meeting? 60 senators sent out emails over the past 2 days in support of this amendment. The online blog has had good conversation on this. Wi-fi on campus will not be allowed for online voting so you must use a landline on campus. Because of IP limiting you couldn't line people up at one computer at a frat house or organizational meeting.

THE VOTE: A motion for a hand vote was made, Diane didn't accept it. A voice vote denied the amendment.

Amendment 2

Susan wants to amendment the 700 codes to have ufsg rules supercede florida laws.

Patrone, CON. Hernandez, CON. I am a lawyer and a future candidate I need to get in as much face time as possible.

Susan, PRO. You can't take our A&S fee away from us (someone suggested that the administration could). Smack, read your Florida Statutes.

Vote: Voice-vote, no.

Amendment 3

Susan: Supervisor of election must get senate's approval about the type of voting they wanted to employ.

Diane asks John a question. John is the man. Apparently no one around here knows what is going on. Friendlies are flying all over the place, people are leaving the room, the Judiciary chair says one thing Boyles says nope your wrong I'm right.

This meeting is a waste of time. Everyone walked in at the same time suggesting a caucus meeting prior. The arguments are just stupid, the supervisor of election should report to the SBP not the Senate? Because why?

Sundeep: Joe doesn't appoint the supervisor, the executive committee does so we already have checks and balances.

Bacon: How are you supposed to get an election together in a month? How about staying the summer? Or utilizing Sandy and the rest of the SG staff that do alot of the work.

Some replacement senators are PROing it.

Final summation, Susan: This is simply an additional advise-and-consent check for SG.

The VOTE: Susan moves for a roll call vote. R&E member comes to take the roll call vote... defeated 19-41.

Amendment 4

Semmel puts in an amendment saying the alligator is crap. Not really, but his amendment really didn't change anything.

Back to that Secure Site Thing

Chamoff offers a friendly. Whatever.

CON: A gator graduate senator says: THIS BILL IS CRAP. It's not really online voting, its electronic voting. Why not just allow you to vote any ballot at any polling location. My party told me to walk voters to the polling location. She isn't voting for the bill because it isn't what her constituents want. GO HER FOR SPEAKING HER MIND.

PRO: Belle I think we need to create a way where students can vote for me in local elections on cell phones everywhere. Ok, so maybe not but he was rambling about something equally without content.

PRO: Stone thank you committee.

PRO: Pace this bill is great and contains no curse words. It allows you to vote at any polling location. Minor fact: this bill doesn't stipulate that the number of polling location to increase.

PRO: Susan: you didn't accept my amendments but I will still vote for this because it is a step in the right direction.

CON: Same graduate senator says she isn't voting for it because it isn't a big enough step.

PRO: Kerr electronic polling location is like a touch screen voting machine. Hernandez: It would be expensive. Oloshula: We axed your constitutents what they wanted at a fourm. Semmel: I am great and so is this bill.

Call previous question ... ayes have it.

THE VOTE: 1 nay, the rest ayes. They ayes have it. That's it for now, more commentary later.

Vote Naked!

2005-07-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, so maybe I'm not creative enough to come up with that tagline but I did read it in a facebook ad being run today. It refers to a webpage where students can let their senators know that they want the real-deal internet voting, not the vote in a computer lab on campus and we will pretend that is what you meant when you said we want it online. Today's Alligator might as well be dubbed the special online voting edition if it didn't include the new and improved, updated wireless in the dorms story. But back to the voting. A David Cohen exclusive takes a break from exploring SG behind the scenes to bring you a look at the issue faced by senators tonight. The opinions page agrees with my desire to see online voting, well, you know, actually ... ONLINE. Senate President Diane Kassim speaks out, calling for online voting in a move to trump Jared Hernandez's effort and capture the issue for herself. You can be sure you will be hearing about it come spring when she is running against him for Student Body President. Finally, letters from Adam Roberts and Rosemarie Clouston complete the page, reminding senators that more than 1,000 students actually signed a petition to get online voting on the ballot. If all that coverage wasn't enough for you, feel free to check out the results of the Alligator's online poll seeking to answer the question: When you heard about “online voting,” did you think that meant Internet-based ballots? If you still confused about all of this Student Government election stuff, read up on the definitions of the different types of voting at the SG Voting Options Forum. If you have strong feelings, stop by the senate meeting tonight at 7PM in room 282 of the Reitz Union. Anyone can sign up for a minute of public debate at the beginning of the meeting to let your senators know your opinion before they vote on the bill. My personal opinion? Secure site is better than paper ballots (saves money, makes finding your polling place less confusing). "Unsecure" or universal online voting is better than secure site (saves even more moeny, allows you to vote naked from your dorm room if you want -- preferably when your roomate isn't there, unless you are cool with all that nudity). Student Government is modeled after the American system of a representative democracy ... this effort is to increase participation in elections by making it easier. More participants = a better job of representation. Cheaper is always good. If you trust your class schedule, financial aid and football tickets to an online system, I think you can trust your vote for SG president too. And about all that halo stuff ... I'm pretty sure there are not campaigners attacking me with flyers and stickers all the way up to my apartment, let alone my room. So to make a long story short, lets change the language of the bill being presented tonight to accomodate real ONLINE VOTING. It's time to walk the talk.

1:00 PM Update.

NAGAS has joined the blogworld and provided us with quite a lengthy discussion of the online voting issue, including a suggestion for a $500 election. The alleygator discusses Sen. Henriques' amendment. The Alligator poll currently suggests that 83% of students thought online voting meant internet ballots.

Friday Already!

2005-07-22T09:31:00.000-05:00

Wow how time flies, is it really Friday already? For all of you who want to get your paws on a print copy of the Alligator, you can get one today after some difficulties with the Gainesville Sun's printing operation on Thursday.

GoaL presents the Wildlife Issues (WIS2040) version of the online-voting debate. The Gainesville sun also chimes in on the subject, stating that the duck population has remained stable.

Also, Bob Graham visited UF yesterday to talk about his proposed Graham Center (in the Political Science Department) Three areas will be focused on at the start: Public Leadership, The Americas and Intelligence. It will start most likely with a focus on undergraduates and will build up to a graduate level program. This year Graham will be at the Kennedy School of Government picking up as many ideas as he can and then expect Graham (former governor, senator) to be teaching in a classroom near you. The Gainesville Sun has an article with more details, although they seem to think that no students or members of the community attended when in actuality the two groups probably compromised half of the crowd.

Online Voting Blog

2005-07-21T22:24:00.000-05:00

The Online Voting Committee Blog. Get more information about the different proposals and the latest news. Now this is what I call an improvement in accessibility of information! Hats off to SG.

Housing Lies.

2005-07-21T12:36:00.000-05:00

In today's alligator, Sharon Blansett of UF's Division of Housing was quoted as saying wireless internet was coming to the common areas of the graduate villages, Hume, Graham, Broward and the Tolbert-Riker park and Murphree courtyards because, "We want students to have Internet capabilities outside of just their rooms." She also said that she "was unsure of the new technology's total cost, she said all expenses incurred likely will be covered through the housing department's own funds." FALSE! In fact, every single one of those areas, except for the graduate village commons, were payed for by Student Senate Bill 2004-1119. The bill provided for wireless at Lake Wauburg, outside the New Engineering building and:

Broward Commons ($2,750)
Murphree Courtyard ($2,250)
Graham Gallery ($2,750)
Tolbert / Riker Park ($2,250)
Hume Commons ($2,750)

This was also previously reporting in an alligator story by Bridget Carey in December of 2004. Shame on you Sharon Blansett for trying to claim something initiated and paid for by student government as something Housing came up with and was willing to pay for. They were allocated money in December of 2004 to complete this project and they are just now getting around to it. The good thing about waiting all that time? Hoping that you can claim it as your own and no one will notice.

Wednesday Update.

2005-07-20T12:03:00.000-05:00

John G. Roberts was nominated for the Supreme Court last night by George W. Bush. [CNN]

Apparently you need a middle initial in your name to be someone important. Look for trendy members of the prestigious new campus leadership organization, Florida Orange Lock (Flock), to be sporting these pins in the fall. Rumor has it, they created the new organization to promote the initial pins after it became widely known that the golden gator pins are available commercially at extremely reasonable prices. To counter the future possibility of the dishonorable simply buying pins and sporting them, Flock will provide a list of members who have been awarded pins and are authorized to wear them on their website, www.uflock.com, along with downloadable documentation detailing the reason that members particular pin was awarded (with references, of course, to check the validity of their stories). This should solve the problem of there appearing to be too many important people on campus. Applicants with middle initials i or j must legally change their middle names because the pins are all lowercase and the little dot at the top of those letters is difficult to make. Applicants with less than 400 facebook friends need not apply.

Greek on a Leash [GoaL] proposes an Anti-Gerrymandering Act for any senator who wants it to sponsor it. Come on, who doesn't want to put their name on something -- just make sure you do some research first so you can present it and field questions.

The alcohol issue is still getting play ... Bar owners say they don't see harm in their drink specials [Gainesville Sun] The bar owners make good points ... how can you complain about single drinks when liquor stores are selling handles of high proof spirits (for the cost of a few drink specials at the bars)?

For fun: Check out this new concept for windows, folding windows ... watch the video to see them in action or read more about them. [Gizmodo]

Nominee Tonight.

2005-07-19T12:30:00.000-05:00

President Bush to announce Supreme Court nominee to replace Sandra Day O'Connor at 9PM EST tonight. Today's press briefing has been cancelled. This should be the beginning of an interesting roller coaster ride.

Hide it in your agenda.

2005-07-19T11:46:00.000-05:00

Click to enlarge.

Welcome to what?

2005-07-18T16:22:00.000-05:00

On a recent trip I was disappointed to discover that the ensusiasm of the employees at the Archer Rd. Moe's was not what I was used to. Guests were greeted with a barely audible "Welcome to ....." instead of the usual "WELCOME TO MOE'S!" Also, the sour (yes, it is ok that it is extra) was not evenly distributed on my Moo, but hey, it isn't a perfect world. Despite all of that, it was still my third trip this week so I guess they are surviving. I have been obsessed ever since I was clued in that you could get your chips refilled for free! That same day I was also told by a frugal friend that you you could get an extra piece of bread nor no extra charge at Panera. Awesome!

Slandering Smathers

2005-07-18T14:57:00.000-05:00

So what happens to people after they run for Student Senate ... they run for the United States Senate of course. This passage is about George Smathers, the namesake of Library West, in a chapter on Malapropisms and Metaphorical Bloopers...

A few years ago, George Smathers was running against Claude Pepper in a Senate race. In a speech in rural Florida, Smathers did a euphemistic hatchet job on Pepper. It's now recognized as a classic of the genre: "Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? Not only that," Smathers went on, "but this man is reliably reported to practice nepotism with his sister-in-law," Smathers said mournfully, "it is an established fact that Mr. Pepper, before his marriage, practiced celibacy." -Page 174 of Too Funny to be President by Morris K. Udall.

Smathers won, probably because he was a seasoned campus campaigner. If you ever have some free time and want to see the campaign materials Smathers used when running for Student Senate or any of the other exciting races from the beginning of the last century, check out the special collections on the 2nd floor of Library East. For those of you new to the archives, you will need to ring the doorbell to get in, place your bookbag in a cabinet on the back wall and only take notes in pencil (no pens!) ... don't worry, the friendly librarian will take care of you (you don't retrieve materials, you tell them what you want and they bring it to you).

Wayne Brady to headline Gator Growl

2005-07-18T13:55:00.000-05:00

Hats off to the entire Gator Growl team for bringing Wayne Brady to Gainesville this year to headline Gator Growl. This should be a show that students and alumni alike can enjoy. With all of the controversy recently surrounding PTI's partial ticket subsidy veto it is great that Growl will finally be getting some extremely positive press. Be sure to get your ticket soon to take advantage of the reduced prices compliments of SG...

The first 15,000 students to purchase tickets will receive a special discounted price of $5.00. General public admission tickets are $18.00 each. Students can purchase the discounted tickets at the University Box Office located in the lobby of the Constans Theatre adjacent to the J. Wayne Reitz Union.

Those wishing to purchase general public admission tickets can do so at any Ticketmaster location, Ticketmaster.com, via phone at 904/353-3309 and at the University Box Office. Student-priced tickets cannot be purchased through Ticketmaster.

Thanks to Chris Chase, Director of Public Relations for Gator Growl, for the press release. Anyone interested in sending a press release, tips or just plain good ole gossip is welcome to send email to ReitzRambler@gmail.com.

Although it came out a few days ago, you may want to pour over the recently completed UF Staff Survey. Also, check out this 25 billion dollar instant city in South Korea for 100,000 people that is being designed all at once by a New York firm and built over the next 10 years.

More on ISIS Debts

2005-07-16T23:17:00.000-05:00

Alright, so maybe there is some merit to all of this ISIS/Credit Card stuff ... check out this story from the St. Pete Times.

Student Government, act now.

2005-07-15T16:59:00.000-05:00

The University, always looking for a way to increase its revenue, has decided to tack on a new service charge for paying your university debts by credit card on ISIS. That means the next time (starting July 26) you go to pay your tuition, infirmary or other debts you will get hit with a 2.6% fee. This is simply unacceptable. The argument that credit cards are "very expensive" to the University is unfounded -- the convience of having an online system means that you don't have to pay salaried employees to sit around and accept checks -- and I would bet a lot that the credit card fee charged to the University is much smaller than going back to check-only based operation. Student Government frequently writes resolutions opposing block tuition and tuition increases ... well here is something that is happening now and impacts the pocketbook of all gators.

Payment by cash, check, debit and EFT will have no fee associated with them. Come on, cash? Processing cash is expensive and if anything should have a fee associated with it, that should. I have been able to pay by credit card the entire time I have gone to UF and NOTHING in the way the credit card system or U.S. financial market has changed since then.

To add insult to injury, they also have decided to stop accepting VISA cards for ISIS payments because VISA doesn't allow this type of predatory raping of its customers.

To complain please contact University Financial Services at 352-392-0181 or email ufshelp@admin.ufl.edu.

Facebook Announcements

2005-07-14T22:20:00.000-05:00

Let's face it, if you are reading this blog you probably are a facebook addict too. Right under the search bar on the left is where facebook makes its money -- ads. Now I've seen ads for sg campaigns, accent speakers and pool parties at lexington crossing in that space (and why not, it is a great deal at $19 /day), but a recent ad caught my eye. It was advertising the ad space itself and looked a little something like this:

Facebook Announcements
Things you could do with Announcements on the Facebook:
1. Search for a new roommate.
2. Tell everyone what you think about global warming.
3. Break up with you bf/gf in spectacular fashion.

Maybe it is just me but that last one seems a little harsh. The real question becomes, will anyone actually do it because of the ad above and should thefacebook feel just the slightest bit guilty for putting that idea in people's heads or should they be applauded for coming up with a creative way to advertise their space.

New Blog

2005-07-12T17:21:00.000-05:00

New blog joins the block, Gatorman: At the Corner of University and 13th.

Local Campaigns

2005-07-12T11:14:00.000-05:00

Recently, the Gainesville City Commission decided to bump down the limit on campaign donations from $500 to $250 per individual for City Commission races. However, they did not change the limits associated with the local political parties. Overall a good move, however, contributions to and from the DEC and REC should face similar fates. Student Government should consider contracting with VR Systems for election management (they provide technical services for 59 of Florida's 67 counties) so that we can also have the sweet searchable online financial reports that the Alachua County SOE has.

Greek on a Leash continues to amaze with a detailed post on the gerrymandering of our local Florida's House districts ... apparently our friends in Tallahassee managed to marginalize the university by drawing a district straight through it. Sounds like something that our SG lobby program should look in to fixing.

In completely unrelated news, UF in Beijing opens, described to be similar to UF's Paris Research Center that many students study abroad at. UF pulls a Twister and sends researchers out in to the path of Hurricane Dennis to set up towers to collect meteorological data and Tropical Storm Emily looks like she is on her way. NASA's space shuttle Discovery is set to blast off this afternoon, weather permitting, two years and a few months after shuttle operations were halted when Columbia was lost on re-entry.

Housing News

2005-07-11T12:44:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the alley gator for the heads up on housing news at UF. Apparently the Division of Housing has announced that they will be issuing roommate agreements via email instead of snail mail. This move makes sense and cents! Rambler approves the move and hopes that they will quickly fix similar problem areas such as:

Accept credit card payments for rent and accept them online.
Run the housing lottery online.
Eliminate the use of carbon copy forms and replace them with online forms (this mainly deals with paperwork RAs have to fill out).
Provide wireless internet in the lounge areas of the halls.
Provide printing and copying at the area desks.
Provide Area Governments and RAs with more money to program with (RA's are currently allotted about $1/per resident/per semester to put on programs ... ridiculous). While at it, pay RAs more and don't send them to "mandatory appreciation banquets" without/or with low-quality food.... it doesn't make them feel very appreciated.
Do away with cohabitation rules, they are stupid and not followed.
Lower rent.

You may ask, how Reitz Rambler do you plan on paying for all of these additions when you suggest lowering rent? Simple, hire a computer programmer to make all of these forms online and then cut the staff that currently separates carbon copy forms, punches holes in them and puts them in binders. The problem with this plan? The people who would have to decide to make these changes are the same people who would lose their job. Housing is over-priced and operating "in the 70s" because housing isn't run like a business, it is run like a holding pattern for higher-education and secretarial professionals.

Saturday Update

2005-07-09T16:18:00.000-05:00

Florida State quarterback Wyatt Sexton has been diagnosed with Lyme disease and will be out the entire season.
The entire Birmingham, England, entertainment district (their 200 clubs and bars puts Gainesville to shame!) has been evacuated because of a security threat.
Hurricane Dennis continues to move northward causing the mandatory evacuation of millions in the panhandle with many of them evacuating to Gainesville area hotels. Gainesville is currently under a tornado watch, flood warnings and wind advisory after several tornados touched down in the Tampa Bay area.

Un/natural disasters.

2005-07-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

All sixty UF students studying abroad in London survived yesterday's terrorist attacks.

A voice over the radio this morning informed me that Hurricane Dennis has made progress toward the Florida coast, strengthening to a category 4. Hopefully Gainesville and all of the gator nation will spared as his impact will hopefully be minimal.

In other news, it is rumored that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will step down today and a man was convicted of parking outside of someone's house and "stealing" their wireless internet signal with his laptop. Republicans should be careful who they put on the bench, because if they "deal" with the abortion and gay-marriage issues they won't have anything else to stir up voters in future elections. Lets face it, no one but the corrupt super rich are going to go vote for a platform that involves increasing the debt to increase the size of government and to handout no-bid contracts. Oh yeah, that and shifting the tax burden from millionaires to those that the millionaires pay minimum wage to in order to make their millions. Eventually the public will realize that a platform based on morals would be ... gasp ... a platform of social programs and fair taxation.

Final observations: It seems one of the things I have learned best while at college is how to navigate the aisles at Wal-mart better than their associates. Also, old people go to the grocery store during the middle of the day on weekdays -- random.

Wednesday Headlines.

2005-07-06T07:59:00.000-05:00

London beats out Paris, Moscow, New York and Madrid to host 2012 summer olympics.

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, called the family of a teenager who was killed for his iPod.

Ross Perot's running mate James Stockdale dies at 81.

Martha Stewart (or M. Diddy as her jailmates like to call her) isn't liking house arrest.

Don't play fetch with firecrackers.

Free lunch program to be extended to summer, regardless of if students are taking classes, to be paid for by Federal Government.

The law library in butler plaza closed on June 15th and all materials should be moved to the new Holland Hall by July 15th.

One month of rambling.

2005-07-05T08:19:00.000-05:00

This weekend was full of activity. The Reitz Rambler turned 1 month on Sunday, followed by the United States of America turning 229 on Monday. Definitely something to celebrate about, just don't celebrate with Coldstone's cake batter ice cream.

In its first month, Reitz Rambler received 4,592 visits by 831 unique visitors. 101 comments were posted in respone to 24 posts. Readers were mostly detected from Gainesville, however a substantial number of visits came from scattered areas around the United States and overseas.

Hats off to the Alligator for providing more detail on the Reitz Union director situation.

Finally, another blog joins the scene. Greek on a Leash offers commentary on "UF Student Government from a Greek point of view...kind of."

O'Connor to speak at O'Connell?

2005-07-01T12:19:00.000-05:00

Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on U.S. Supreme Court has resigned. With all of her newly found free time maybe Accent can get her to come to UF to talk about her experience in the fall. Speaking of speakers, comment away on who you would like to see this year. I'll start the list with...

Sandra Day O'Connor
Jon Stewart (although I hear he doesn't like to speak to big crowds)
Tony Blair
John Kerry
Karl Rove
...

Fraternity & Sorority Community Analysis

2005-06-30T12:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday PTI distributed the 33-page "Fraternity & Sorority Community Analysis" that was submitted on June 13, 2005, by consultants Ron Binder and Damien Duchamp based on their March 11-14 visit. Overall it basically stated that Greek Life at UF is good but could be much better and needs to change in order to fit into the top-ten public vision for the university. Some highlights from the report include:

"Fraternities and sororities represent a highly visible and passionate segment of the student community whose influence exceeds its numbers and the campus borders." (3)
"This study also found that Greeks gave more money to their alma mater than other graduates and have a stronger commitment to their University and a greater sense of belonging, both important to the University of Florida in its fundraising efforts." (4)
"Assign responsibility of determining Homecoming pairings to a neutral party." (4)
"The current judicial system as it pertains to members and chapters does not provide the level of accountability needed for a system this size and complex. Individual violations are currently seen as unassociated with their fraternities and sororities and are generally not
communicated with the FSL staff."
"FSL staff should compile and publish chapter academic, housing, judicial, service/philanthropy, health/safety, and involvement data for the masses (i.e. being available on the web, printed in marketing materials, and sent to chapter headquarters, etc.) to as wise an audience as possible." (8)
"A hazing hotline should be established, allowing for anonymous reports to be
received." (8)
"One of the challenges with public relations is the relationship with the Independent
Alligator....According to the students, a boycott was launched by fraternities and sororities to counter bad press. By their own admission, the strategy has been largely unsuccessful." (10)
"Furthermore, it is important to consider that the perceived relationship may be just that, a perception. We have reviewed the newspaper and at first glance the large majority of articles are positive. In fact, the section on F/S provides more useful information than the University website. It’s conceivable that there is a disproportionate amount of attention given to the negative and less to the positive. Ultimately, the only way to reduce negative press is to improve the fraternities and sororities on campus. If all chapters did what they were supposed to do 100% of the time, there would only be good things to report in the media." (10)
"The University’s website for fraternities and sororities is largely inadequate, as are the kinds of publications that were observed....A ‘Greek Report’ should be created each year for mass consumption....In an effort to make the website stand out, we recommend that a sub-domain be established off of the University server (http://greeks.ufl.edu).." (10-11)
"FSL staff should provide accurate and complete information to the
Alligator, as the source of F/S information should be direct and not indirect. Lastly, the Alligator should be commended for the positive aspects of their publication as they relate to the F/S system." (12)
"During our visit we toured several housed groups and in general found the conditions very substandard and inconsistent with quality Greek housing. The health and safety of students living in fraternity and sorority houses needs to be paramount. Currently the Greek facilities at the University are inadequate, unsafe, out-of-date, and generally unattractive with some exceptions." (21)
"Finally, the staffing philosophy for House Directors is problematic. During our sessions with these individuals we discovered that while they may report to an alumni board on paper, the reality is that they report to and work for the undergraduate officers. Many complained that they felt powerless to implement any standards or discipline for fear of being removed from their positions." (22)
"The responsibility of managing, staffing, and renovating chapter facilities should be assigned to the University housing department. This department has the expertise to operate, staff and renovate these facilities. They possess tremendous talent in running a very large housing operation currently with all that this entails. Staffing of the House Directors should be placed in their hands for many reasons not the least are consistency of performance, good supervision, clear lines of authority and providing University benefits (a huge factor in recruiting good House Directors)." (22)
"While not major issues, we recommend that policies be adopted that prohibit pets and that also prohibit people from being on the roofs." (23)

DDD-L@LISTS.UFL.EDU

2005-06-29T16:35:00.000-05:00

In two emails approximately 30 minutes apart PTI announces the upcoming changes at the Union. Dr. Michael Mironack has been promoted to Director of Operations for the J. Wayne Reitz Union and Eddie Daniels, Jr. has been appointed as Executive Director for the J. Wayne Reitz Union and Student Activities. Mr. Daniels will start his term on August 31st.

If you are interested in this sort of administrative stuff you should really subscribe to the "triple D listserv" (DDD). All of those D's stands for: Deans, Directors and Department Chairs and the listserve is used to "convey important information including policy and procedural changes to all operational units within the University of Florida community." To subscribe or browse archives, navigate to: http://www.admin.ufl.edu/DDD/

No More Commercial Complaints ... Hopefully

2005-06-29T11:34:00.000-05:00

Finally UF will get a new commercial to air during the commercial breaks of gator football games. The marketing firm Fletcher Martin will be paid $500,000 to work with UF's new associate vice president for public relations (Joe Hice) to create the commercial and implement a new marketing effort that, unlike the old commericals, will hopefully not embarrass students, faculty and alumni alike.

Commissioner Mastrodicasa

2005-06-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

As alluded to in a previous post, the first candidate for Gainesville city commission has filed:

Jeanna Mastrodicasa, associate director of the University of Florida Honors Program, is the first candidate to throw her hat in the ring for next spring's city elections, filing earlier this month to run for the seat now held by Commissioner Warren Nielsen.
Nielsen, a friend of Mastrodicasa, will be unable to run for re-election due to terms limits.

Jeanna holds a PhD from UF, a masters from Tennessee and BA and JD from UGA. She is involved in all aspects of campus and the community and without even hearing who her competition is, Reitz Rambler whole heartedly endorses her candidacy for city commission. She is running for an At-Large seat so anyone registered in Gainesville can vote for her.

Carelton Classmates

2005-06-28T22:56:00.000-05:00

Well with Summer B getting in to full swing it is hard to miss all of our new classmates on campus... you will generally find them overdressed in the same style, wandering campus map in hand and asking each other the same questions over and over again - where do you live? what's your major? do you have a car?.... Oh the joys of being a freshman.

But with more people on campus organizations are actually tabling which always make a stroll across campus more interesting...

It seems some people had productive breaks including a College Republican's National Convention (apparently people spend upwards of $100,000 to be the national chairman putting SG races to shame), a SG Exec Lobbying trip (will Thursday's Alligator include a post trip debriefing?) and the construction crews on Library West, the ICBR and the Law Library (the grass was just layed today).

PTI has made her decision regarding the Union Directorship. Apparently she managed to not really make a decision by hiring both Eddie Daniels and Mike Mironack. It seems Eddie will handle the student activites side of the union and Mike will be involved more with the facility and finance. What the new organizational chart will look like... it is difficult to tell other then to be certain that PTI is at the top of it.

Anyone wanting to get involved in SG or eat some A&S Fee funded food head to the 3rd floor of the Reitz Union on Wednesday from noon to 4pm. If only classic fare had chicken tenders and honey mustard similar to the Swamp's ... oh, that and a nice serving of Sweet Potato Fries.

Shands is now a certified level 1 trauma center ... this is good and bad ... good if you are dying, bad if you are only almost dying because you will have to wait a much longer time.

Finally on a state/national scene: rare shark attacks in NW Florida bring beaches unwanted negative publicity during a major tourist season, bush1 and clinton1 apparently have nothing better to do than hang out and Walmart heir John Walton died in private aircraft crash.

Return of the Rambler

2005-06-26T21:58:00.000-05:00

Alas, with summer intersession behind us, Reitz Rambler returns to bring you ramblings each and every school day for Summer B...

Summer B: The new semester officially starts today bringing many more students (both Summer B Freshman and those who are here because of the Summer B Freshman) to campus.

Gator Baseball: The Gators were finally defeated Sunday by Texas. Congratulations to the Gators for making it to the national championship game.

Superfast Internet: Florida joins with other Florida Universities to create Florida Lamda Rail, a network for research purposes that increases transfer rates over 100 times what the researchers are used to.

University Corners: The project is picking up speed, including the demolition United Methodist Church and Student Center.

Introducing Gatorpedia...

2005-06-20T05:23:00.000-05:00

In honor of intersession, Reitz Rambler brings you a new way to procrastinate when you get bored with the blog world and facebook (gasp). Gatorpedia is a free-content encyclopedia about all things related to the University of Florida -- that anyone can edit.

For those of you familiar with wikipedia, Gatorpedia is based off of wiki-technology. That means that every page on the site has an edit button that any visitor can click to make changes to the page if they would like to. Each page also has a history tab so you can see what changes have been made over time (and revert back to them if necessary). Finally, if a page doesn't exist on a subject you like -- you can create it.

So far the site seems to be in its infancy (it is just a few days old according to its about page), but it has been growing rather quickly. It is likely that this rambler will be spending much of his intersession helping this project out. In a few months time, finding out anything should be as easy as well ... stalking people on facebook.

Facebook Polling

2005-06-17T17:19:00.000-05:00

Due to Summer A finals today's post is late. Hope everyone who had them did well.

Speaker for Senate: Speaker of the Florida House, Allen Bense (a Republican from Panama City), is being encouraged by President Bush, Governor Bush and the National Republican Senatorial Committee to run for Senate. It looks like the leadership has little faith in Katherine Harris' ability to put the 2000 presidential recount behind her. But if Bense wants to win this one though, he is going to need to get a facebook group going soon. Here's how the landscape at UF looks so far:

US Senate:

Gators for Senator Bill Nelson. 52 members.
Katherine Harris for US Senate '06. 5 members.

Governor:

Republican Charlie Crist For Governor. 22 members.
Toni Jennings For Governor '06. 15 members.
Gators for Jim Davis. 5 members.

President:

Clinton In '08. 99 members.
Arnold For Presinator 2008. 79 members.
Gators For Mccain 2008. 28 members.
Condi For President, 2008. 17 members.
McCain For Pres. 08. 15 members.
Ann Coulter for President in '08. 12 members.
Al Gore in '08. 3 members.
Rep. Mike Pence for President in 2008. 1 member.

The McCain folks should really combine their groups to be more impressive. At this point in time, it looks like it's anyone's game...

Someone should tell all these politicians how cheap facebook ads are.

SG Ringing for You

2005-06-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

Century tower stands 157 feet tall in the middle of campus. It was completed in 1956 to celebrate the university's 100th birthday in 1953 using donated funds. Now for the bells...

By definition, a carillon must have at least 23 fixed, finely tuned bells. UF's has 61. There are fewer than 200 carillons in all of North America, and only four in the state of Florida. UF is among the largest university carillons in North America. Now how does one go about paying for all that metal? That's right, student fees...

The world-class carillon housed in Century Tower was purchased for approximately $200,000 with funds accumulated from student fees over several generations of students. The funds were earmarked by the Board of Regents and the Legislature for campus improvements in the performing arts. The carillon purchase was endorsed unanimously by the Student Senate in 1976. Now if you could only get to the top to check them out for yourself...

Well actually, you can. There is a carillon recital about every month and they usually have the tower open so that you can climb to the top to watch the clavier be played. If you are tired from all that climbing, you might want to consider finding a way to get the funding to put an elevator in the elevator shaft that currently sits empty. Each floor of the tower has a room about the size of your bedroom. The floors were intended to be music practice rooms but were never finished -- probably because, like the elevator, there wasn't the money -- and it is unlikely the rooms would get much use without an elevator. So when are your next opportunities to see the inside for yourself and hear the bells played?

Sunday, June 19, 2005 , 3 p.m. @ Century Tower
Sunday, July 17, 2005 , 3 p.m. @ Century Tower

Make sure to check it out before you graduate.

Another blog

2005-06-15T07:28:00.000-05:00

Another UF/SG blog, The Down and Dirty of UF SG Politics, seems to have join the scene early this morning. The veto letter from PTI is posted amongst commentary...

Give 'Em Belle!

2005-06-15T00:52:00.000-05:00

Want to relive the 2005 Gainesville City Commission District 3 race? Well apparently you will be able to soon -- at least the candidacy of UF student Mike Belle in a documentary entitled "Give 'Em Belle." Although the site currently just has photos and text, a trailer and screening dates are promised soon. The all-star cast includes Andre Samuels, Stephanie Ruby and lots of those great campaign t-shirts. Credits also hint to interviews with campus leaders such as Joe Goldberg and Dennis Ngin. Despite only garnering 171 votes, you've got to give Mike credit for trying. I look forward to sitting down with some popcorn for a campus screening soon. Thanks to a reader for the tip.

Sun to shine on Florida

2005-06-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

Read all about it: With student senators eager to get back to their finals week studying, Student Senate Bill 2005-1059, a transfer from reserves to fund the Gainesville Sun readership program, passed easily on the Senate floor with little debate after lengthy reports from the executive officers on the recently concluded Board of Trustees meetings. Here are the details of the readership program:

Papers will be delivered Monday through Friday, excluding school holidays, for one year, starting August 22, 2005.
During the fall and spring terms 2500 papers will be delivered daily. That number will be cut down to 1000 in the summer semesters.
The papers will cost ten cents each. The Gainesville Sun will pick up and refund Student Government for unused papers.
The program is capped and cannot exceed $46,000.
According to an Alligator article, the Sun will also include dedicated space for extra UF news Tuesday through Friday. That space will be filled by a writing staff of journalism students overseen by a Sun editor.

How they plan to distribute these papers I don't know, but I hope it involves machines that are fun to use and effective at limiting their distribution to the students who pay for them. No doubt, someone will argue that you can get the Sun online for free -- but until we all are walking around with wireless devices that get coverage everywhere and are as easy on the eyes as paper, there is no substitute for the physical copy.

If it is all possible I think the program could be made extremely beneficial by working with the Department of Housing & Residence Education to have custodial staff drop off a copy of the paper (and the Alligator, NYT and USA Today while they are at it) in all of the dorm lounges when they do their morning cleaning. This way when students are sitting around procrastinating that pre-lab or term paper, they will have something other than the remote to pick up and start a conversation around. And while we're at it, sprinkle a few copies around the dining halls and food courts.

Ramblers response? Two thumbs up to SG for creating another tangible service.

Update as of 10:30AM: Here are a few more details on the program:

The papers will be distributed in boxes in 10 locations around campus. Additionally, they will be in racks in the offices of all the dorms.
The papers will be somewhat different than the normal copies. It will be the Gainesville Sun Campus Edition, which will be somewhat retooled to center on issues that are of interest to the college aged population. The section written by journalism students will start off with about 2 pages of content but will grow depending on advertising from the community. The Campus section will probably wrap the regular paper to give it the campus look.
You will find the campus edition in Gainesville Sun newspaper boxes, but subscribers who get it delivered to their door won't get it.

More information is available in a Gainesville Sun story that ran today.

The Reitz Rambler is a daily publication covering campus news and politics from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.

Just another Tuesday.

2005-06-14T13:27:00.000-05:00

Summer A comes to an end, debate over RTS Later Gator service does not: Zachery Jacobson clears up the issue with a letter to the editor. Although he makes a lot of good points, some one should point out to him that his term as Parking and Transportation Cabinet Director is over and he should stop using the title in his letters!

The Board of Trustees met in South Florida, connected to Gainesville only by a sometimes shaky live video feed. It should be interesting to hear about the proceedings of the meetings (this blogger didn't have a chance to watch them all). The opinion page of today's Alligator asserted that somewhere Student Body President Joe Goldberg was referred to as the student trustee -- I couldn't find the reference, but hopefully Joe and the board realize he is the most important trustee as the advocate for 48,000 students. Maybe they should reflect his listing to say that instead.

If you want to catch a game of Jai-alai, you better check it out soon as Ocala Jai-alai's three-month, 100 game season comes to an end on June 25.

You might soon find the Gainesville Sun added to the list of free papers student government provides. Although some question the move, this rambler thinks it is a good one. In addition to increasing awareness of the local community, the deal includes space for student submitted campus news giving journalism students another opportunity to gain valuable experience. Now if I could just find away to get Student Government to fund my blog...

Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez join to fight oil drilling in Florida. Glad to see they can get past partisan lines to put Florida's interests first. Now if they could just agree on funding a lot more alternative energy research ...

Finally, another blog (Alachua Politix) has been added to the sidebar of links. If you know of any other good local blogs, feel free to suggest them as a comment.

Weekend Recap

2005-06-13T09:45:00.000-05:00

Today starts as a slow news day...

Senate Replacement Seats: The R&A Committee posted their recommendations on the 3rd floor for Summer B replacement seats. Susan Henriques, one of the candidates for Student Body Treasurer in last Springs elections, will serve alongside the rest of those recommended. Also, a special congratulations to Gareth Kerr who finally landed a seat after interviewing at least 4 times. It seems that persitance pays off...

Tropical Weather: Tropical Storm Arlene made landfall in the Florida Panhandle over the weekend. Impact was minimal, mostly just a lot of rain.

Entertainment: If you are looking for something to do this week, consider checking out the musical 8-Track: Sounds of the 70s at the Hippodrome. It plays every night except Monday until June 26 and student tickets are as low as $10 for the Sunday and Tuesday shows. It starts off slowly but ends with a bang. If you are looking to see a movie, Mr. & Mrs. Smith will give you a nice break from Summer A finals week without taxing your brain or your wallet too much.

Our trio's down to two.

2005-06-10T12:21:00.000-05:00

Keith Kowalka from the University of Houston has withdrawn from the interview process for personal reasons. Unless another candidate is scheduled, we are left with only two candidates to be the next director of our Union: Eddie Daniels and Mike Mironack.

Through both of their interviews one thing was certain, no one grows up saying "one day I want to direct a student union." Eddie has jumped around the country from campus to campus, having held the director job at three different unions by now. Mike, alternatively, has worked his way up through the Reitz Union to his position today as the Interim Director. Eddie's background is in programming, while Mike's is business management. They are very different candidates.

My concerns: If we hire Eddie, how long will he stay before making his next jump? If we don't hire Mike, will he start looking for a director job elsewhere to apply for (now that his PhD in Higher Education Administration is complete)? Would the transition from UConn to UF be a smooth one for Eddie? Could Mike see past the retail side of the Union which has been his focus for so long and take on responsibility for having an overall vision for the Union? Would a Mike Mironack Union be a continuation of Dave Kratzer's vision and is that what we want?

There are many questions but ultimately the answer will be decided by the often mentioned Vice-President of Student Affairs, Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin (PTI). However, one thing is certain: the new Director will have the benefit of having the old Director as a supervisor -- leading me to believe that we will be OK regardless of who gets the nod.

As for my vote, well ... I will be spending a lot of time at that ballot box.

The Reitz Rambler is a daily publication covering campus news and politics from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.

Showdown in the Swamp

2005-06-09T08:21:00.000-05:00

It looks like Student Government's controversial $340,000 transfer from reserves to Florida Blue Key may face a veto from Vice-President for Student Affairs, Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin (PTI). Does she have the authority? Here is how it works:

The right to collect and use the Activity & Service Fee (A&S Fee) is granted in the Florida Statutes, specifically in 9b of Chapter 1009, Section 24. The following provision is provided:

"...The university president shall have 15 school days from the date of presentation of the budget to act on the allocation and expenditure recommendations, which shall be deemed approved if no action is taken within the 15 school days. If any line item or portion thereof within the budget is vetoed, the student government association legislative body shall within 15 school days make new budget recommendations for expenditure of the vetoed portion of the fund. If the university president vetoes any line item or portion thereof within the new budget revisions, the university president may reallocate by line item that vetoed portion to bond obligations guaranteed by activity and service fees. Unexpended funds and undisbursed funds remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall be carried over and remain in the student activity and service fund and be available for allocation and expenditure during the next fiscal year." - 2004 Florida State Statutes, 1009.24 9(b)

Now, University President Bernie Machen has delegated this authority to PTI so, in theory, she has the legal right to veto the expenditure within 15 school days. SG would then have 15 days to try and work out a compromise and re-word the expenditure, otherwise the expenditure essential dies and goes back to reserves (it is not likely the PTI will reallocate the funds to any of SG's bond obligations).

This move could create a divide between PTI and student leaders who already feel that she pulled a fast one on them with her recent reorganization of Student Affairs with little direct student input on the matter. Although she may not agree with the decisions being made she should agree with the idea of Student Government, specifically the ability for students to gain valuable leadership experiences by taking on large responsibilities. Student leaders will make good decisions and bad ones, but they will learn just as much from both. The integrity of the process should not be destroyed for the oversight of one decision. One has to wonder if PTI has her sights on taking Growl away from FBK after setting the stage for disaster next year. Whatever organization ends up running Growl, it should be student-run.

The Reitz Rambler is a daily publication covering campus news and politics from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.

Union Director Search Continues

2005-06-09T08:15:00.000-05:00

The search for a new Director of the Reitz Union continues. Today's candidate was Mike Mironack, the current Interim Director of the Union since February when the position opened up. Here is a summary of Mike's relevant experience:

Interim Director, Reitz Union (February 2005 - present)
Associate Director, Reitz Union (October 2002 - February 2005)
Assistant Director, Reitz Union (August 1996 - October 2002)
Marketing & Retail Manager, Reitz Union (August 1994 - August 1996)
Director of Records, UF Foundation (April 1987 - August 1994)
Holiday Inn - West; Gainesville, FL (November 1982 - April 1987)

Also a gator grad earning his B.S. in Business Administration in 1982 and most recently a PhD in Higher Education Administration in 2003. Similarly to candidate Eddie Daniels, comments will be reserved until all the interviews have finished.

Next at bat: Keith Kowalka from the University of Houston on June 21st. He is the last candidate to interview.

The Reitz Rambler is a daily publication covering campus news and politics from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.

Errors everywhere

2005-06-08T09:49:00.000-05:00

Gainesville: The Alachua County Republican Executive Committee left a recent election commission meeting with $4,000 in fines (story). Apparently they had a problem with filing their finance reports and properly wording signs. Also, some in the REC weren't too happy to discover that some of the money at a local Republican fundraiser went to make signs endorsing Pegeen Hanrahan's challenger, C.B. Daniels (like Pegeen, Daniels is also a Democrat) in the 2004 race for mayor. If he keeps making errors like these, Travis Horn's next job might just be running a SG campaign...

Tallahassee: In a report to the Student Senate last night, SG's private consultants (Capital City Consulting) reported that Bright Futures is safe for 2005-2006. That should come as no surprise as tampering with Bright Futures is equivalent to political suicide.

Washington: Howard Dean, what are you thinking? Please put someone on payroll to read your speeches before you plan on making them ... when high ranking members of your own party start criticizing your comments it is time to take a step back for a minute and rethink your strategy. As chairman of the DNC, you speak for the party not yourself.

Early Starts

2005-06-07T08:04:00.000-05:00

Union Director Search Update: Eddie Daniels, Jr. is on campus all day interviewing with various administrators and groups. He has been the director of the Union at the University of Connecticut for the last 5 years. Prior to that he has worked as the Union Director at the University of Virginia and held a variety of positions at the University of South Carolina and the University of Georgia. For the sake of not benefiting any candidates with knowledge of the other candidates interviews, this rambler will keep his opinion to himself until all the candidates have been interview.

Next at bat: Mike Mironack (UF) on Thursday.

City Commission Rumors: Looks like things are already heating up for next year's city commission race. Look for candidates to start filing soon. Rumor has it you might just find one of your professors/advisors as a candidate.

Presidential Hopefuls: It's never too early to start campaigning for Student Body President. According to an article in today's Alligator, Jared Hernandez (Law Student, former IFC president and recent Chomp the Vote Director) is heading up the new Committee to Investigate Online Voting. Although the online voting issue tends to be championed by the non-greek/FBK candidates, it looks like Hernandez is positioning himself to steal all their thunder and claim it for himself. If Hernandez wants this experience to be usable in his campaign, in this rambler's opinion, he is actually going to have to implement Online Voting -- something similar committees in the past have failed to do. Looks like this next election should be just as exciting as any other.

University Avenue

2005-06-06T12:51:00.000-05:00

Forget University Avenue as you know it, when you come back for your first reunion you won't recognize the place. The ambitious university corners project will be breaking ground soon and will transform the familiar University and 13th we are all familiar with. Say goodbye to Starbucks, Burrito Brothers, August Moon, Target Copy, Maui Teriyaki and more (for now). Here is what you will you will see in a few years:

(from UniversityCorners.com)

The bottom right hand corner is where Starbucks currently is. The Holiday Inn across the street has announced plans to update their look to remain competitive with the new apartment/hotel/retail giant. The far left of the image is a new church to replace the existing one, a deal they secured in providing the University Corners team with land for the project. Many of the existing retailers claim they will be back in the structure, while others have moved down the road (Target Copy is set to open in the old Spec's music building any day now). Although it isn't likely that many students will be able to afford the high cost of living in this structure, it's construction makes sense -- the property value along University Avenue is simply to high to be wasted on one story buildings. Mixed land use will give the area more of an atmosphere by bringing more population in closer to the University as well as more opportunities to procrastinate in new shops, bars, clubs and restaurants. Traffic will most certainly worsen, however the impact on parking should be minimal as many spots will be added in the project.

This ramblers opinion: This needs to happen, it is happening and once it happens it will force the rest of University Avenue to change along with it. Go straight down University Avenue from 13th to the new Hillel and upgrade to larger buildings that can better serve our student population. I'd much rather walk to class than take a bus and I think the area is prime for affordable high-rise student apartments. University Ave. already offers a variety of restaurants but in this case I say more options is better. But one parcel should be preserved and untouched ... The Swamp.

(because you can never get too many baskets of sweet potato fries or chicken tenders with that amazing honey mustard sauce)

Library West?

2005-06-05T14:36:00.000-05:00

To those of you who just finished your freshman year Library West may be something you've never heard of. You may think it is normal to search for books on the library's website, request them and then pick them up 24 to 48 hours later at Marston. Luckily, that will all change in a little over 6 months. Here's what you have to look forward to:

Library West Reopening. Yes, the big building under construction at the back of the Plaza of Americas will be open for use in early 2006. It was originally supposed to open at the beginning of the Spring semester, but look for a few month delay.
Escalators. For some reason the new design calls for escalators which is fine by me. Enjoy taking a ride up and down these moving stairs as they are the only publicly accessible escalator on campus (there is an escalator to the top of the skyboxes in the stadium, but don't expect to be able to ride those just for fun).
Group Study Rooms. Now here is a good idea. The renovated library will include several rooms with a table, seating and a whiteboard for students to get together and study. Much better than the current situation where group study in Marston irritates everyone else in the library.
Compressed Shelving. If you have ever spent anytime in the basement of Marston you will know what I am talking about. All of the library's holdings will be stored in moving shelving units in the new structure. The entire old part of Library West will be study space, computer labs and library offices.
Comfy Seating. If you want to help pick out the new furniture, stop by the reading room of Library East (also known as Smathers or Smathers East) and try out the chairs scattered around. Write your comments on the attatched clipboards.
A Cafe. In theory, the new library should be complete with a cafe that serves coffee and light snacks to complement your studying. Should be open 24 hours.
Ranking Effect. The new library should also provide us with a boost to our national rankings as variables such as study space (ratio of library seats to students) are often used.

Hopefully all of this will occur on time and will radically change how we study (or pretend to study). It will definitely make writing papers much easier when you can browse the stacks at the last minute to beef up your works cited. Until then, keep up with the library's construction progress (including monthly photos).

While we are on the subject of libraries, here is an idea for Student Government:

SG Video. Oftenly talked about, never completed. Use reserve funds to purchase popular (yet historically significant) DVDs to place in the libraries for student check-out. The disc cases would feature the "funded by SG" logo and the libraries would handle the storage and circulation. A committee with a student majority and library staff minority would pick the titles to be added to the collection. For a few thousand dollars a significant collection could be built up and Student Government could advertise yet another way that SG Works for You! Use the PR cabinet of SG to advertise this new service and link to a search of the collection on the SG website.

If you are a senator, feel free to use the idea above and claim it as your own. If you aren't a senator, find one and have them help you write up the bill. This can happen very easily.

Look forward to daily posts from this verbose rambler and be sure to make sure to leave your questions and comments as they might just be the subject of the next day's post.

Presidential blunders

2005-06-04T17:31:00.000-05:00

Don't worry Joe, this isn't about you. And Bernie, somehow you escaped this one too.

Last Fall our nation debated and selected our president for the next four years. Unfortunately, that debate came nowhere near Gainesville. First lets start with the little of the candidates we saw:

In the presidential arena:

John Kerry. You didn't come to Gainesville, shame on you. Learn a lesson from the greeks and rally your base.
George W. Bush. You came, sort of. Although I appreciate the gesture, you should have came to campus. Lets face it, UF is the heart of Gainesville and the surrounding region, not the private entrance to the airport. When your brother Jeb runs (or his son George P), tell them to take the few minute ride from the tarmac to campus (trust me it doesn't take long when you've got a motorcade with light control).
Ralph Nader. You did the best job with your campus visit, but lets face it -- you weren't even on the ballot in every state. Next time, seek the nomination of a major party and stop causing problems for the Democrats (you know you would much rather they win then the Republicans).

And while were at it, as far as VPs go:

John Edwards. Where John Kerry screwed up, you shined. Holding a rally in the middle of the North Lawn is definitely the way to go. Bonus points for bringing your kids on the visit and a visit by your wife in the final stretch of the campaign. You should have gotten the nomination.
Dick Cheney. Thanks for coming to Gainesville, but a private event at the Harley Davidson dealership didn't really swing any votes. You've got to let people see and hear you to change their mind.

But the biggest blunder is reserved for the University of Florida Administration. After the 2000 election it was clear the impact the state had on the national election and as far as I am concerned it was pretty obvious that Florida would receive much of the media and campaign attention in 2004. When it was announced that the University of Miami would be hosting the first presidential debate I was quite angry, as it is my opinion that it should have been held at UF in the Phillips Center (with the nearby Natural History Museum used as a press pit). The event would have highlighted our status as the flagship university of the Florida higher educational system and brought some much needed national academic prestige and attention to the "football school" in Gainesville. However, after a little research I discovered that much to my dismay, only 14 schools applied to host the 4 debates (3 presidential and 1 vp) and UF wasn't one of them. In fact, the University of Miami was the only applicant from Florida, making it a no brainer for the Commission on Presidential Debates.

So who is responsible? Unfortunately, basically no one. At the time the application was due Charles Young was a lame duck university president as the search for a new one was taking place and Provost David Colburn was planning his return to the classroom. One could say that the Student Government President at the time should have spearheaded the effort, but with an administration with dwindling influence it was unlikely their campaign would have made it far.

So I offer this challenge to Dr. Machen: Go to debates.org and fill out the application for 2008. When I say that I mean charge the Faculty Senate with creating a Debate Committee and have them hash out all the details, then sign off on it. Students, make sure you let your administrators know this is something you care about because lets face it, the greater the prestige of UF, the greater the value of your degree. Make sure the tickets to the debate are distributed more fairly than the VIP tickets at Accent events, because lets face it -- being at the debate would be the coolest thing ever (that you would never shut up about and your kids would roll their eyes when you started retelling them the story for the millionth time) and should be open to more than SG politicos.

Let's just hope we didn't miss out on our opportunity. Maybe the universities in Ohio will be as slow to realize an opportunity as we were.

A new director, a new direction?

2005-06-03T16:46:00.000-05:00

Since former Reitz Union Director Dave Kratzer was elevated to the position of associate vice president for Student Affairs in early March, a national search for a new director has been on-going. The job is, well, kind of a big deal, as the new director will only be the fourth in the Union's history, and will be responsible for overseeing an over six million dollar annual budget and one of the largest unions in the country. Of the 48 original applicants, here's who is left (in order of their interviews):

Eddie Daniels. Director of campus activity at the University of Connecticut. (June 7th)
Mike Mironack. UF's Assistant Director for Mareketing & Retail at the Union. Has been serving as the interim director of the Union since Dave Kratzer moved on. (June 9th)
Keith Kowalka. Director of the University Center and Associated Facilities at the University of Houston. Read his bio. (June 21st)

It will be interesting to see what vision the new director has for the Union. I'll have my eye out for their opinions on the following issues:

The Hotel. Always a controversal subject, especially with the recent $500,000 loan from Student Government to rennovate. Is the hotel an integral part of the Union's purpose?
Expansion. Let's face it, the Union, like UF, is always growing. Where should the next expansion go and what should it be used for?
HomeZone. This place serves bland food to barely any customers and I doubt makes anywhere near the revenue a decent replacement (maybe a chicken place like KFC or Zaxby's) could. What should replace HomeZone?
Orange & Brew. This place is always changing, with the only constant being beer. This rambler agrees that beer should continue to be on the menu of a redesigned Brew, but how about a set-up more like a TGI Friday's or Chili's where you sit down and are served real food. The O&B could go from a place that sells a few coffees and over-priced sandwiches to a real campus attraction that would attract all students during the day and maybe even a few on-campus freshman without cars for evening dates.
The 3rd Floor. The hub of student activity on campus desperately needs an upgrade (except the Student Government offices of course which were recently rennovated using student A&S fees). The space just doesn't serve our generation -- it isn't big or modern enough. Instead of sitting around and waiting for a Student Body President that will recommend that CITF funds be used to rennovate it (instead of say, the infirmary) let's go ahead and dip into those oftenly mentioned and rapidly diminishing reserves and redo the floor while we still have money.

Watch for more details as the interview process proceeds. And as always, comments are highly encouraged!