* As an alumna, USF President Rhea Law has palpable passion for the university, and that is extremely important. She has more than career skin in this game. She is also determined to realize her goal of USF being among the top 25 public universities in the U.S. and gaining membership in the Association of American Universities, a group of 66 leading research universities.
Her top-25 presidential goal, however, has an ironic twist.
When one of her predecessors, Dr. Frank Borkowski, took over in 1988, he made it a public goal—at his inauguration—to get USF into the, yes, top 25 public universities. Inaugurations, as we know, are hardly the forum for modest goals. But not everyone cheered on such academic ambition. Charlie Reed, the chancellor of the Florida University System—and former chief of staff of Gov. Bob Graham—soon got in touch with Dr. Borkowski to—reprimand him. In short, such an ambitious goal should not be part of USF’s, uh, regional purview. But it definitely was a fitting goal for the state’s flagship university in Gainesville.
That was then. This is now. Go, Law-abiding Bulls.
* One quick takeaway from Orlando Gudes stepping down as city council chair—but staying on as a board member. Imagine the, uh, awkward relationship with the city council member referred to as a “p—-motherf—er” by Gudes.
* E-scooters, as we’ve seen, are now part of the urban landscape and have grown in popularity—as well as disfavor. It happens when it can be a fun scoot or a quick hop to the office. And it happens when the business model too often results in scooters blocking sidewalks and littering parks when they’re not dumped on roadsides or tossed into the Hillsborough River along the Riverwalk. And then there’s the safety issue in one of America’s most notoriously fraught traffic-pedestrian cities.
You know they’re gaining in popularity when you start to see “Injured in an e-scooter accident?” legal ads. Watch for them on buses and trolleys.
Maybe the learning curve will straighten out. Maybe it’s just a few blatant, non-compliant outliers. City of Tampa spokesman Adam Smith might have nailed it when he stated that “We believe it’s a combination of drunks, jerks and buffoons who are responsible.” He’s probably right, but there’s a helluva lot of them.
* St. Pete–2436 4th Street–now has its own La Segunda Bakery and Cafe. The 106-year-old La Segunda is the world’s largest producer of Cuban bread.