TITLE: Resolution Supporting Freedom of the Press STUDENT SENATE 2012-1059 AUTHORS: Umair Asghar, Ben Cavataro, Ford

Dwyer SPONSORS: Zack Lash, Morgan Vollrath, Matt Pesek, Jason Waldman, Max Stein, WHEREAS, the Florida Alligator was founded as the student newspaper of the University of Florida in 1906 and has been continuously published for over one hundred years; and WHEREAS, the Florida Alligator became the Independent Florida Alligator in 1971, after University administrators attempted to censor its content, and has been editorially and financially independent from the University of Florida for more than 40 years; and WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of students, alumni, faculty, staff, and others have read the Independent Florida Alligator for its news and commentary; and WHEREAS, thousands of students, including many award-winning writers and journalists, have contributed to and reported for the Independent Florida Alligator, and WHEREAS, CollegeMagazine.com ranked UFs journalism program among the top 10 in the nation this year, and WHEREAS, the Independent Florida Alligators 19 distinctive orange newspaper boxes have served campus for more than 30 years; and WHEREAS, on December 11, 2009, the Universitys Board of Trustees approved a rule that would prohibit distribution of all publications on campus unless approved by the UF Vice President for Business Affairs; and WHEREAS, this rule went unnoticed at the time, and there was no attempt to engage in dialogue with the Independent Florida Alligator or with the student community at large prior to the rules approval; and WHEREAS, University administrators now plan to remove the historic newspaper boxes owned by the Alligator by August 15 and replace them with black modular bins owned by the University, and WHEREAS, the University plans to eventually charge the Independent Florida Alligator and other publications a fee or tax to distribute their papers, and WHEREAS, at last count 2,764 people have signed a Save the Racks petition against these plans#; and

WHEREAS, Dr. David A. Denslow, Distinguished Service Professor at the University and economist at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the Warrington College of Business, has been conducting a study to determine whether the change to modular racks would negatively impact Independent Florida Alligator distribution; and WHEREAS, if the university goes forward with its plans Professor Denslow will be unable to complete his study, and WHEREAS, the Universitys stated rationale for its modular program that the current orange racks become dangerous projectiles in a storm or are not as aesthetically desirable as black modular racks are unconvincing and have in fact been ridiculed; and WHEREAS, the Gainesville Sun editorialized on July 25 that: In the name of aesthetics UF would exert a new means of control over a publication that, frankly, often irritates the people who run the university. Once boxed in, a degree of exposure and indeed, independence, will be lost to the Independent Florida Alligator. Censorship in the name of aesthetics is still censorship; WHEREAS, the Central Florida Future, the independent student newspaper at the University of Central Florida, stated that it would be one thing if the administration announced its real reasons for removing the racks and dealt with the criticism, but this is just insulting to the students of UF; and WHEREAS, Fabiola Santiago of the Miami Herald, a UF alumna, wrote in a July 20 column that this plan is unnecessary and will undermine the student newspaper and tax what is essentially a public service, writing that this is either a crass attempt to collect more fees or a way to silence scrutiny by student journalists; and WHEREAS, the Student Press Law Center has noted the danger of the Universitys proposal; and WHEREAS if the University moves forward with its plan, it may generate costly, wasteful litigation in a time of budget cuts, with no benefit to the University; then THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The UF Student Senate Urges the UF administration to halt their plans to remove the Alligators newspaper racks until after Professor Denslow concludes his study; and THEREFORE LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that The UF Student Senate Calls upon the Board of Trustees to repeal or revise its 2009 rule to save the iconic Independent Florida Alligator racks; and THEREFORE LET IT BE FINNALY RESOLVED that the UF Student Senate condemns any attempt to charge publications for distributing newspapers or literature on campus.

Proviso: a copy of this resolution shall be sent to the members of the University Board of Trustees, the University President, Provost, and Vice President for Business Affairs, the editor of the Independent Florida Alligator, the members of the Board of Governors of the State University System of Florida, and, the Governor, Attorney General, and members of the Florida Legislature.