Failure to post meeting info unwarranted

Editorial

A student government at any institution is meant to serve students - period. That is its only job: to represent the interests of its constituents.

However, the University of North Florida Student Government seems to be having trouble remembering this.

Student Body President Rachael Tutwiler is currently chairing the joint Student Fee Assessment Committee composed of SG representatives and university officials appointed by President John Delaney.

The committee reviews and discusses the activity and service fee, the athletic fee, the health fee and the transportation fee paid by every student and then makes a recommendation to Delaney about any changes, including increases.

The committee's first meeting took place Oct. 19 in the president's conference room.

However, no one was aware of this meeting except for members of the committee, other SG members and select university officials.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Oct. 12 but was subsequently cancelled.

The next meeting scheduled for Oct. 26 was also cancelled. Again, no one was made aware of these changes except those on the committee, SG members and select university officials.

When a Spinnaker reporter made inquiries about the legality of not properly noticing these meetings to the general student population, SG officials said no flyers had been made and no notices had been posted around campus about these meetings.

It wasn't until after the Spinnaker contacted UNF's General Counsel and began asking questions about Florida Sunshine Law that a schedule of the remaining SFAC meetings was posted outside SG offices and also put on the SG Web site.

The key to a successful student government is open communication and a constant flow of information. Students should be able to approach their student government and get information about what their elected representatives are doing.

In fact, student governments should go above and beyond making information about their actions, meetings and decisions available to the public.

It shouldn't take a reporter asking questions to bring something like the possible violation of state law to the attention of SG or the university.

The university and SG should make the effort from the get-go to ensure they are meeting their responsibilities to the state and to the students they serve.

While General Counsel has said they received no concrete indication that the SFAC meetings are required to follow Sunshine Law, they have recommended that SG treat the meetings as such just to be sure.

Aside from the law, if a meeting concerning student money is conducted, students should be properly notified of its existence so they are better informed about what they are paying for and where their money is going.

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City fared well at 'world's largest cocktail party'

Editorial

Aside from a few minor incidents, Jacksonville came out of "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" relatively unscathed, a change in pace from previous years.

Last year during Florida-Georgia, a University of Florida student was fatally assaulted outside an office building.

The same weekend, a man who was suffering from what coroners reported could have been acute alcohol poisoning fell down bar stairs and died near the football stadium.

Despite efforts by the city in 2006 to remove the drinking label from the game, it still remains an event heavily dominated by alcohol and partying that is headquartered at the Jacksonville Landing and celebrated across the city.

Three people have died during Florida-Georgia festivities since the Southeastern Conference asked the three networks broadcasting the game not to refer to it as the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" in 2006, and thousands more since then have continued to carry on the cocktail torch.

Some University of North Florida students see the weekend as the closest they'll get to a local football party and take advantage of the event by renting party buses for a full weekend at the Landing.

Others avoid paying hefty cab fairs and beverage fees by hosting their own parties.

If you haven't gone downtown at least once during game weekend, you're missing a sight rarely seen in downtown Jacksonville.

Thousands of people fill walkways, restaurants and bars, and music blares from bands and speakers. Go to the Landing tonight or any night other than Fourth of July and New Year's Eve, and you'll see little more than a ghost town.

The murder rate in the city continues to skyrocket, but luckily the city made a good impression last weekend by providing enough public safety officials on the streets to help guarantee last year wouldn't repeat itself.

The weekend is a superb boost for the city's economy and great for its reputation.

The festivities have proved to be dangerous in the past, but University of North Florida students and citizens across Jacksonville used good enough judgment to stay safe while having fun.

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Celebration transformation makes sense for schools

Staff Opinion

By Ace Stryker
COPY EDITOR

Imagine it's early May. A classroom full of third-graders is bustling with excitement because it's a holiday.

The teacher calls the students to gather in a circle. She tells them that each must take a turn praying. Some, hesitantly at first, pray for their families, others for new toys, and yet others - the ones who really get into it - for the fertility of the classroom pet, Parthenos the bullfrog, to be magnified.

Then the teacher drags a large wooden pole into the circle and instructs the children to dance around to honor the gods. If you think that's unusual, here's a real humdinger: Imagine it's late October. Every child is disguised in a costume - some elaborate, some scary, including lots of monsters and the living dead.

They spend the day wandering the halls of the school, demanding boons from strangers and threatening a variety of tricks if their arrogations are not met. All this, of course, is to honor the witches.

You've just witnessed a pair of pagan holidays - Beltane and Samhain.

If these celebrations seem strange, consider other holidays schools have traditionally celebrated - like those that call for an evergreen to be adorned inside the classroom or eggs to be painted and hidden from view.

Suddenly the pagan celebrations don't seem so off-color. What remains strange, though, is how parents who would never let their children be subjected to the first pagan ritual don't see any problem with forcing every kid at school to partake in the second.

Against the objections of such parents, schools like Kohl Elementary in Colorado are phasing out Halloween celebrations in favor of "fall festivals."

While mobs of traditionalists cry foul, an examination of Principal Cindy Kaler's thinking yields surprisingly good sense.

Her reasons are threefold: not every parent can afford costumes, not every child is comfortable with the holiday, and not every lesson can be taught as well to sugared-up kids in SpongeBob masks.

The school's solution is a generic in-school festival complemented by a weekend carnival in which kids can still wear costumes if they prefer.

It's a sensible answer to a justifiable problem that shouldn't be ignored just because tradition has left it alone for so long.

Before condemning schools like Kohl Elementary for cowering before "political correctness," look at the costs and benefits of such a move - the result might be every bit as surprising as a little ghoulie sneaking up and yelling "Boo!"

Contact Ace Stryker at discourse@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE

Don't water down longtime American Halloween tradition

Student Opinion

By Alexandra Grow
JUNIOR, COMMUNICATIONS

It's that time of the year again: the holidays. A time for family, traditions, fun and peace.

Correction: It's a time for bickering, neutrality, boredom and political correctness. At least that seems to be what the schools have in mind this year.

They are turning Halloween into costumeless, bloodless "fall festivals." Halloween should not be taken away from the kids.

School officials at Kohl Elementary School in Broomfield, Colo., say they are turning the focus to fall for a few reasons.

First, some parents cannot afford to buy costumes, so they feel not letting any kids wear them will prevent those who have none from feeling left out.

Another reason they have given is that some of the accessories the children have for their outfits, like rubber knives, are just too much of a hazard. They also said all of the time spent getting kids' costumes ready is time that could be spent on the festivities.

And the most significant reason they are giving Halloween the axe is that it might offend people of some religions.

Not a single one of those reasons is good enough to destroy a beloved pastime.

It is ridiculously cheap and easy to put together a costume without spending a dime. Children can rummage through their parents' clothes, makeup and accessories, and easily transform themselves into a character.

For example, heavy eyeliner, blue eye shadow all over the face, and bright red lipstick on the neck, and there is a vampire victim.

Next, the school officials should be more concerned about the kids bringing in real weapons throughout the rest of the year, not the ones made of rubber or plastic. A pirate costume without a hook or a sword would just be a sailor, not nearly as scary or fun.

As for the kids wasting their time getting ready, well, sometimes getting ready is half the fun.

Putting costumes together also encourages children to use their imagination.

There is no religion left in Halloween, so it is not clear how this would offend people of various religions. Sure, back when Halloween first originated, it was a pagan holiday, and then Christians took it over.

But the holiday that is celebrated today is all about tricks and treats, costumes, jack-o-lanterns, haunted houses and fog machines. Not one of those things offends anyone's religion. It's just for fun.

The schools seem to be taking the easy way out by taking away traditional holidays instead of just including some new ones, like Ramadan, which will help children become more accepting of other cultures.

It is not that hard to put up a few stars and moons acknowledging Ramadan, as one parent in Chicago wants, so the kids can keep their fun.

American schools are becoming too bland when they start replacing fun traditions with politically correct festivals.

Contact Alexandra Grow at discourse@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE

Letters to the Editor

Homosexuality argument has little if any merit

Dear Editor,

I picked up the Spinnaker Oct. 18 and read Kay Guerrero's column titled "Homosexuality and infidelity: It's time to educate children," and I have to say, I have no idea what you were trying to say. There is a lot of information in the article, but no definite point I could discern.

I thought it was interesting you spent half the column talking about spouses cheating on their partners with other people, yet what "scares" you is bisexuality. You make bisexuality sound like the plague, out to infiltrate American households and break up marriages.

I want to clear up a common myth that you promote through your article, however, which is the idea that bisexual people can't stay faithful or will need to seek out other partners. As a bisexual woman who has been out for the past nine years, I took offense to the message you were promoting. Bisexuality is nothing more than the capacity for a person to be physically, emotionally, and romantically attracted to men and women, and it has nothing to do with sexual behavior such as promiscuity and monogamy.

Bisexual people are no more likely to be promiscuous than any other member of the general population.

I am currently in a committed, monogamous relationship with the person I intend to marry someday and with whom I want to have children. Are you going to tell me that because of my sexual orientation, our relationship is more at risk than any other couple?

The other issue in your article I want to address is your closing sentence: "It's necessary for parents to be aware that tendencies toward homosexuality and bisexualism can develop in anyone."

According to the American Psychological Association, "Sexual orientation emerges for most people in early adolescence without any prior sexual experience." There is also no valid scientific evidence to suggest that a person can change their sexual orientation, although many people try to repress it.

Perhaps if our society were more accepting of gay and bisexual people, there would be less pressure to conform to the "heterosexual norm" and enter in a marriage where the pressure of hiding one's true sexual orientation drives some people to seek extramarital affairs.

I want to make this clear: Cheating on your partner, whether that person is a spouse or a boyfriend or girlfriend, is wrong.

But a cheater is a cheater, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Instead of educating children about "homosexual tendencies," shouldn't we place more emphasis on teaching children about healthy relationships and healthy behavior instead?

Lindsey Morrison,
Program Assistant
UNF Writing Program

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