Letters to the editor: UF should use unoccupied apartments to house hurricane victims

Letters to the editor present the opinions of readers on news stories and other pieces published by The Sun.

UF wasting empty apartments

Did you know that right now, there are 300 unoccupied apartments on the University of Florida campus that which could be used to house victims of the hurricane, but that UF officials are keeping artificially empty? I'd like to advocate for their reopening, because it might be the only way to save these wonderful apartments.

How they got to be empty is through a cruel UF housing policy that has prevented graduate student families from moving in for a couple years. I am one of the last remaining tenants. This short-sighted plan culminates in the demolition of 44 beautiful brick buildings and 27 acres of trees and playgrounds next year, unless we can stop it (please visit SaveUFGradHousing.com to help).

These housing units are more than just affordable — they have been home to an international community of graduate students for generations. They are called Maguire Village and University Village South, and together they are truly one of UF's greatest resources.

The public has the opportunity to pressure UF to use these spaces for so many things instead of destroying them, including as shelters. Why not utilize these spaces to their full capacity and help out displaced hurricane victims at the same time?

Derek LaMontagne, UF graduate student 

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Protect our aquifer

In 1996, Alachua County published the results of its Ecological Inventory Project. The Hickory Sink strategic ecosystems near Archer Road were included. The sink has been protected on the Lee family property for several generations.

Four years of rapid and increasing scorched-earth development along Archer Road have brought this fragile infrastructure of the Floridan Aquifer within reach of irreversible damage. It is the elephant in the living room.

The Alachua County Commission will decide its fate on Nov.11. Ecologist Carl Safina states that we live in a sacred miracle and should behave accordingly.

I have written to the commissioners urging the protection of our aquifer. Have you?

Susan M. Stanton, Gainesville

Incredible town

When I open Facebook, a small rectangular box appears asking me what’s on my mind. So, I vent about the need for some minimum standards of morality, ethics and education for those running for Congress or even state legislatures.

One of my daughters chastised me and suggested I use that platform to share positive thoughts. A good suggestion that got me to thinking about all the Hurricane Ian coverage that The Sun has been providing us — pages and pages filled with pictures and stories of heart-rending tragedy and destruction.

I may have missed it, but I can’t recall any news of that incredible town that experienced almost no destruction, no loss of power and no loss of life — a town not too far from where all the destruction occurred. The town is Babcock Ranch and is the only town, as far as I know, that is totally solar powered. Its homes were built to survive hurricane-force winds and their streets were designed to absorb floodwaters, and they built giant retaining ponds to hold water.

The methods used to sustain Babcock Ranch should be studied by all people living in potentially hazardous areas so destruction on the scale of Ian can be prevented in the future.

Howard B. Rothman, Gainesville 

Cheap shops

David Whitley is a talented sports writer but his endless political cheap shots are tiresome. He regularly attacks LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick and other Black athletes who speak out for civil rights. It is clear he believes they should just shut up and dribble. Last week, he set a new low for his dishonesty in his Fox-News-like fair and balanced commenting on Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

As I am sure Whitley knows, Trump's cheating at golf is legendary — world class. The news reports are voluminous and I suspect Whitley has also read Rick Reilly's “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump.” Biden? A Google search turned up nothing to suggest he is anything close to Trump in that regard.

Then there is Whitley's “ha ha” comment about not wanting to see either of them play golf nude. It's true concerning any septuagenarian, but equally dishonest in its deliberate implication that both are equally gross. Trump is obese! Biden still rides a bike and appears to be quite trim.

Geoff Pietsch, Gainesville  

Self-serving stances

Gov. Ron DeSantis to New Jerseyites after Sandy: No federal relief money for you!

DeSantis to President Biden after Hurricane Ian: Give us federal relief money, and lots of it!

Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott voted down climate emergency bills in August. Rubio and Scott pleaded for federal money post-Ian.

Republican mantra: No, no, no, except when it's their damages.

Kurt Kent, Gainesville 

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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Letters on UF housing, the Lee family property, Babcock Ranch, more