Editorial
The Nov. 5 election is right around the corner and most University of North Florida students couldn't care less.
You probably don't think those numbered amendments and that governor's race have anything to do with you.
Who's running again? Oh, the president's brother and the guy who beat Janet Reno.
The whole nation is looking closely at the governor's race in Florida, but that's not a good reason to care. We do things our own way in Florida. (We'll count our chads anyway we want.)
Believe it or not, the winner of the gubernatorial race may very well have a big impact on your life.
The last one did. For better or for worse, Jeb Bush changed the governance of state education.
If someone else had won the last governor's race, the state's universities would probably not be governed by a Board of Education and individual Boards of Trustees.
A board Bush selected sets policy at UNF. They make key decisions for the university like reclassifying the university's athletics program to NCAA Division I or not.
Depending on whether you are satisfied with their decisions might be a factor in how you should vote Nov. 5.
But the point is not how you should vote. Students need to go to the polls and have their voices heard regardless of what they say.
If students do not vote, the issues affecting them will not be addressed.
Staying home on Election Day is not only forfeiting your right to vote, it's also forfeiting your right to complain.
If you stay home on that November Tuesday, remember your decision in the years to follow.
When your scholarships get pulled back for lack of funding, shut your mouth.
When taxes get raised and your parents stop sending you money, shut your mouth.
When the new governor does something you don't like and it affects your life---and he will -- shut your mouth.
If you want to open your mouth, open it now when your voice counts for something.
Those silly numbered amendments might just affect your life, too.
There are a couple of issues on the ballot that only a political pundit could stay awake talking about like Amendment 3. It's about some Miami-Dade County Home Rule Charter.
Students probably don't have much interest in that, but there are a couple of hot-button issues.
Amendment 11 would replace the Board of Education with a Board of Governors, but leave individual Boards of Trustees in place.
Proponents of this amendment think this might be a better system. Opponents say the new system has not been given a chance to succeed.
Amendment 5 is a potentially polarizing issue. It deals with restrictions on facilities for smoking.
Smokers who are tired of the restrictions already in place better hit the polls to maintain their rights. Non-smokers who want to minimize the second-hand smoke they breathe also need to find their precinct Nov. 5.
These and other amendments are awaiting approval on the ballot. Some will influence students' lives more than others will, but you can be sure your life will be affected.
The decision on these issues is yours.
Have your voice heard.
Or just shut up.
Give trustees a chance on your ballot
Editorial
The choice between soup and salad and the trip to the university system governance buffet may be an unwise one.
Some legislators are so eager to undo a decision they disliked in the first place, they'll neglect to pause and evaluate if the decision has truly failed in the way they believe it has.
Proponents of a proposed constitutional amendment, led by Florida Sen. Bob Graham, refuse to give the reorganized state university system a chance. It indeed may not be the answer to more streamlined, less political governance of the state's universities, but it's certainly hard to tell after only 16 months.
The amendment would separate the university system from the K-12 system by establishing a separate Board of Governors to oversee universities. The individual boards of trustees at each university would remain intact and be accountable to the new board.
Proponents argue this change would insulate state universities from what they consider a highly politicized system that replaced the Board of Regents in 2001. The BOR was the governing body of state universities for 36 years before the reorganization.
Maybe the new system is too political. Maybe forming a Board of Governors would in fact provide the type of oversight and guidance universities need.
However, it seems a bit too early to announce the time of death for the current system. It's hard to accurately determine if a new structure for something as large as Florida's educational system works after trying it for only a year.
This is year two for the new system and no doubt there were bugs in the first year. There always are in newly implemented ideas.
But let's be sure the current system really is as bad as some would portray before we change it again.
There are times when you must cut your losses and abandon an idea or program that has proven to be a dismal failure.
Are we sure that is the case with the state university system?
Do legislators ultimately believe the new system was a terrible mistake (the Florida Legislature did, after all, vote to establish the current Board of Education, which oversees K-12 schools, community colleges and state universities)? Or do some legislators, who disapproved of the reorganization to begin with, just want to get their way in the end?
Some also have argued the state's universities have been neglected with the K-12 system at the forefront of many policy-makers' minds.
In fairness, that may not be a bad situation for the universities. Maybe the boards of trustees at Florida's universities should be left to do their work with little interference from the outside and from those who are not education experts.
The old saying goes, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it." It seems some Florida legislators want to amend the saying to something like, "If it hasn't worked absolutely perfectly in the first year, let's try something different."
Let's not shuffle the state's educational system again so soon after a major reorganization. Give the system a chance to work and then, if it doesn't, let's look at ideas for the future.
Letters to the Editor
Editor:
Your Oct. 16 editorial about the naming of the UNF College of Business Administration in honor of Blanche and Luther Coggin cautions the university against selling out to "private, commercial interests." The editorial notes that it is "understandable for a university to seek and celebrate large donations . . . This becomes a problem, however, when education takes a back seat to collecting money for the university."
From both a factual and conceptual basis, your editorial could not be more wrong. First, the gift of $5 million to UNF represents a personal gift from the Coggin family, not from The Coggin Companies. Luther Coggin sold The Coggin Companies to The Asbury Group several years ago. The Asbury Group is a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Since the gift was a personal gift, there were no "commercial interests." The Coggin family does not need the publicity.
Second, the primary purpose of the gift is to ensure that high quality education takes a "front" seat at UNF. With one of the lowest tuitions in the nation (for Florida residents) and with modest appropriations from the Florida legislature to support higher education, it is naïve to think that an outstanding university education can be provided to our students without significant private support. All of the funds from the Coggin family gift are directed toward improving the educational experience of our students. It is puzzling that the Spinnaker editorial staff might be against such improvements. I am confident that students majoring in business will appreciate the scholarships and other educational enhancements made possible by the Coggin family's gift.
Finally, the editorial suggests that having a name associated with a building, a lobby, a classroom, and especially a college, is a negative thing. To the contrary, we believe it pays tribute to those individuals and companies who value your education so highly that they are willing to invest their funds to make the experience as meaningful as it can be. Among universities, it actually adds prestige to have named colleges. It sends a clear message that the quality of the education provided to students at the college has attracted the attention, the confidence and the commitment of an outstanding philanthropist who values quality education.
To cite just two examples, I expect that the students at the Wharton School of Business and the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania are very proud to be receiving their education at named colleges.
We are extremely grateful to the Coggin family for their generosity and their confidence in UNF. And, we are very proud to have the Coggin name associated with our college.
Generations of students will be the beneficiaries.
Dr. Earle Traynham
Dean, Coggin College of Business Administration
Know what your vote means
Ann Luce
Editor-in-Chief
Like any other college student who is adamant about voting, I too received my absentee ballot last week.
Who would have known two supreme court judges, an attorney general, a commissioner of agriculture and eight other amendments are up for election beside a gubernatorial race and amendments 6 and 11?
Not me, and probably none of you either, had you just gone to the polls Nov. 5.
Here is the low down:
Judge Harry Lee Anstead was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1994 by Gov. Lawton Chiles. A native of Jacksonville, Anstead is known for taking chances with his opinions and is considered a liberal. Recently, he was a critic of the electric chair and he helped to almost rewrite the state election law after the 2000 election mess up between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
Judge Charles T. Wells was also appointed to the Supreme Court in 1994 by Gov. Lawton Chiles. He was in private law practice before he was appointed. He is considered a conservative. I couldn't find much more information about him, except that he, too, was in favor of rewriting the election law after the Bush-Gore situation. He just wasn't as loud a proponent as Anstead.
For the agricultural commissioner incumbent, Charles H. Bronson, has been backed by nine newspapers in the state. David Nelson, racing against him, is a science teacher in Dade county.
Now to the amendments. Amendment 1 would amend Florida's death penalty provision to mirror the U.S. Constitution in terms of the language used.
Amendment 2 talks about the state having to provide an economic impact statement to the citizens of Florida any time a constitutional amendment is proposed while Amendment 3 is specific to the Miami-Dade County Home Rule Charter.
Amendment 4 talks about having a two-thirds vote to exempt public records from view, and Amendment 6 infamously deals with protecting people from second-hand smoke.
Amendment 7 deals with a property-tax exemption for construction of living quarters for parents or grandparents.
Amendment 8 concerns voluntary universal pre-kindergarten education provided by the state and Amendment 9 deals with Florida's amendment to reduce class size.
Amendment 10 talks about confining pigs while they are pregnant and Amendment 11 deals with the implementation of a statewide governing board for state universities, separating them from the K-12 system.
No matter who or what you vote for, make sure you know what that vote means.
Wednesday, October 30, 2002