Readers comment on UF funding, accusations against UF and more
Secretive group
In addition to being told where to park and how to vote, Sen. Keith Perry is apparently ordered to ask no questions. The obscure group Council on Public University Reform contacted Sen. Perry with a $3 million request for a new University of Florida center and the senator failed to ask anything about them.
A Times/Herald reporter asked questions and found that the lobbyist for the secretive group is tied to multiple national conservative and religious organizations. A lobbyist petitions Sen. Perry for millions of taxpayers' dollars and he doesn't ask who they represent? He seems to work hard at ignorance, like when he claimed to know nothing about the dark money that poured into his re-election campaign.
The strangest detail is that UF doesn't know who this mysterious group is either, didn't interact with them and didn't request the funding. Now UF is being ordered by Tallahassee to launch a center to teach what is described as "principles, ideals and institutions of the American political order" to schoolchildren.
DeSantis appointees will hire the faculty. Motivations are becoming clear, but the public deserves more answers. We know Sen. Perry won't be asking the questions.
Althea Thompson, Gainesville
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Who to believe?
For months Sun readers read multiple articles castigating UF for kowtowing to what was described as political pressure from the DeSantis administration in a variety of issues. As The Sun is for many of us our primary source of daily news, we were influenced by what was written, and public opinion came to echo The Sun's position.
I read The Sun on the assumption of its journalistic integrity — even when The Sun's position on issues is contrary to my own. When the drumbeat is steady and presented with such confidence this influence is exacerbated.
Recently in The Sun, UF Faculty Senate Chair David Bloom and UF President Ken Fuchs state without equivocation the charges of UF having succumbed to political mandates from Tallahassee were untrue. Their column is compelling in that both these individuals seem well positioned to speak truth to these issues.
So, what is a daily Sun reader to conclude? More importantly, which “side" of this should readers believe? Objectively, it seems the weight of credibility lies with the UF faculty member and administrator because of The Sun's consistent criticism of all-things DeSantis.
As your reader I do not know which set of "facts" to believe.
Thomas Lane, Gainesville
Standard procedures
It was reported in The Sun on Monday that Terrell Bradley lost his right eye as a result of a "routine traffic stop gone awry.” The Gainesville Police Department was doing its job stopping his vehicle for a traffic violation. Bradley fled after drugs were detected, and then it was determined that he was a convicted felon who was in possession of a stolen firearm.
The appropriate tool to track and apprehend felony suspects is a police K-9. It was Bradley’s decision to commit crimes, run from the police and resist apprehension that resulted in the dog bite and his injuries. Had it been a “routine traffic stop,” then he would have gotten a ticket for a traffic violation and been released. Nothing “went awry” — GPD followed industry-standard practices to apprehend the fleeing felon.
Violent crime is up in the city of Gainesville and Alachua County, and Terrell Bradley needed to go to jail. If a person doesn’t want to get arrested or injured, then don’t commit crimes, carry stolen guns and run from the police. Law-abiding citizens are not concerned with family members or protesters who speak out against law enforcement. This is what we pay the police to do.
Ed Van Winkle, Alachua
Ignoring the consequences
Human behavior is simple. We do things for rewards, real and perceived. If you implant brain stimulation devices in the reward system of the brain of humans or rats, they self-stimulate to the point of exhaustion.
We are biologically hard wired to promote life. The pro-life movement is a biological reward mechanism. However, pro-lifers ignore the consequences of bringing a child into the world. The world is already overpopulated. In the U.S., resources are not available for the physical and mental health of millions.
In the U.S. on average, it costs $235,000 to raise a child. How much is a pro-lifer going to contribute? What will be the mental health of an unwanted child? How will that child function in society?
There are many other consequences, but all a pro-lifer wants to do is press the reward button.
Gerald Langford, Alachua
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Letters on UF funding, accusations against UF and more
