"You're welcome Gator Nation!"
So, for those of you that haven’t seen, I wrote an open letter to all of Florida’s senators asking them to oppose SB 2442, which would create a flagship university system in the state of Florida based on a completely biased set of guidelines.
Although the bias is essentially all in favor of the University of Florida (a giant thank-you to the lovely Senator Evelyn Lynn) I oppose it because it would steal both money and resources away from ten (10!) other universities in the state. How selfish. Did I mention that Ms. Lynn received a (false) anthrax letter in 2008? Just throwing it out there.
Well, I’ve gotten some responses. And holding true the the convoluted, pedantic style of politics in the US, they give me absolutely nothing of value.
Example. Kristen Carter, legislative aide to District 34 Senator Nan Rich, wrote me the following, verbatim:
Thank you for e-mailing Senator Rich to express your views about SB 2442, which would establish standards for state universities to achieve “flagship” status. I will pass your comments along to Senator Rich. Please be assured that when this bill is taken up by the Senate, she will keep your views – as well as those of all her constituents – in mind before casting her vote.
Well Kristen, thanks so much for telling me that Senator Rich is doing her job. I couldn’t have made that assumption myself when I emailed her.
Come on.
Can you imagine if an upper-level manager was contacted by his employer or other figure of authority asking about the status of an important project he’s working on, and he responded by saying “I know the project you’re taking about. I’m doing my job.”? He’d have his head on a block! Now I know that we the people are a lot of little bosses to keep happy, but something more than a generic response from an aide would be appreciated. I spent hours upon hypothetical hours writing crafting this letter to you, and you can’t take a minute or two out of your time to write something back yourself. If I were writing Obama, I’d understand. But you’re the Florida District 34 senator. It’s two minutes.
I was more pleased with the response I got from Charlie Dean, who’s the District 3 senator. He wrote me (all on his own like a big boy):
Thank you for writing about SB 2442. I have had the privilege to graduate from Florida State University while I have seen my son graduate from the University of Florida and I understand the importance of both of these universities, as well as the other nine universities in our State University System, to this state. As such, I will certainly keep your concerns in mind regarding SB 2442 as we continue to work in this Legislative Session.
Although it’s not quite what I was looking for, it’s a couple of steps in the right direction. He convinced me that he has a foot in both figurative camps and that he’s got some understanding of the situation that’s going on. Not to mention that he knew how many public universities there are the state of Florida. He also wrote it himself! If I had to choose a senator who responded to take with me to a desert island, it’d be Charlie. Sorry Nan. You are the weakest link.
I got other, completely automated responses from Senators Steve Oelrich (good luck), Durell Peaden, Arthenia Joyner, Ted Deutch, Larcenia Bullard, Mike Haridopolos, Garrett Richter, Alfred Lawson, JD Alexander, John Thrasher, and Frederica Wilson, that essentially told me politely that I’d probably not be hearing from them.
And that’s it. I guess I’m expecting too much. But I’m sure anyone who’s experienced the annoyance of getting in touch with a Senator and making an impact knows the frustration.
Time for the phone calls.
When one thinks of the great Ansel Adams, pioneer of photography, conquerer of the minds of photographic America, one sees the shiny surfaces of black-and-white silver halide prints, glistening in the controlled light of a gallery, their complexities and shades meeting the mind’s incessant wish for tonal completeness.
