Dear Editor,

I have been a devout reader of the Spinnaker since coming to UNF in fall 2009. Upon having read [the Oct. 12 issue], I felt compelled to discuss some points made in your discourse.
First, I was astonished that the Spinnaker need mention the famous cover from last year’s debut, “HPV Grabs You by the Throat.” I’m not here to start bashing the Spinnaker, as I do believe you have received a great deal of such since last April, but seriously, what was next?

Regarding the theft of the Spinnaker boxes, how did the Spinnaker manage to value the boxes at $280 each? It sounds overpriced, not to mention that the Spinnaker only receives a $66,000 budget, monies delegated from SG provided by student fees.

Is the Spinnaker frivolously spending monies on overpriced dispenser boxes with MY student fees? Perhaps the Spinnaker should ask or cheaply employ students from the College of Computing, Engineering and Construction to build such dispensers? I bet it costs $30 a dispenser including materials and labor.

Subsequently, I do hope the Spinnaker realizes how important student-readers are as preached in the discourse from last week. Freedom of the press allows those juicy controversies, scandals and events to be exposed, providing the public with knowledge. However, I would like to politely ask the Spinnaker to refrain from publishing risqué covers like the one from last April. Why? Although I read your paper and many other students do, as well, I am sure there are those, such as myself, who do like to mention where we are attending to obtain our education. Between the data breach and the Spinnaker cover last year, I did feel embarrassed to speak of UNF to anyone outside the UNF community.

I do hope that the Spinnaker makes great strides as it once did and garner the support of both students and faculty alike in coming days.

Devin Maresca

Devin,

You are welcome to compare the prices of newspaper boxes yourself. You will find that there are very few manufacturers out there, and Shorack, the company the Spinnaker uses, is reasonably priced in this arena and comes highly recommended by other college media programs.

To be clear, not one cent of SG money (your student fees) paid for these boxes. The Spinnaker’s ad revenue paid for them. SG’s money funds some of the student jobs at the Spinnaker, and most everyone seems to agree that job creation is money well-spent these days.

As for the disdain you still feel regarding one cover we printed last year:

We are well-aware that there are students, such as yourself, who would rather us not have a risque cover. That is why we seldom do it. But there were many who enjoyed it or were simply indifferent about the whole thing. At the end of the day, that cover sparked tremendous conversations about freedom of expression and safe sex. And that’s nothing to feel embarrassed about.

Chance Ryan