Shout out to UF

Measured by the sheer number of academic programs, colleges and research centers, the University of Florida is the largest university in Florida.  It is one of three flagship universities of the State University System of Florida, and, at close to 50,000 students, has the second highest enrollment of Florida universities.  UF has the sixth largest student population of single campus universities in the United States.  Florida is a land-grant, space-grant, and sea-grant university.  The sea-grant status means funding and focus are given in scientific research, education, training, and extension projects geared toward the conservation and practical use of U.S. coasts and marine areas.  Space-grant universities maintain programs geared towards aeronautics and aerospace research and facilitation.  The space-grant program is administered by N.A.S.A.  Land-grant universities were first established in the 1860s for the purposes of dealing with the industrial revolution through the fields of engineering, agriculture, and science.  
 

The University of Florida is considered the most academically prestigious university for its relatively high placement on many publication lists attempting to quantify academic achievement.  The University of Florida is one of the largest research universities in the nation, contributes nearly $6 billion annually to Florida's economy, and is responsible for nearly 75,000 jobs.  UF is currently ranked 47th overall among national universities in the 2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings.  

It has the largest budget of all Florida universities and has roughly twice as much of an endowment as the Florida State University, which has the second-largest endowment of any university in Florida.  Kiplinger’s magazine ranked UF second in a list of best value public universities in January of 2010, based upon costs, costs after financial aid, and average debt per student after school.  In 2010, U.S. News & World Report ranked the University of Florida as the 15th best public university in the United States.

The University of Florida is divided into 16 colleges and more than 100 research, service and education centers, bureaus and institutes, offering over 100 undergraduate majors and 200 graduate degrees. UF also offers professional degrees in law, dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine

Spring Quarterback

It may only be Easter, but we are already looking forward to the Gator Football season.  One big question on everyone's mind is the quarterback position. Driskel and Brissett entered spring camp in a battle to replace John Brantley, the Gators’ starter the past two seasons. “Right now, honestly looking at going through the spring, I don’t know that we will name a starter after spring,’’ Muschamp said. “That to me is becoming more and more evident every day, that both guys [are players] that we can win with, bottom line."

" The game has slowed down for them,"  Muschamp said. “Both guys are competing at a high level, both have done outstanding things throughout spring. I'm very pleased with their progress as much as anything, just managing our football team and taking a command of the offense.” He added that due to “not much separation” between the two, the competition will likely remain open when fall camp starts in August".

Asked if an outstanding spring game from one of the two could prompt him to name a starter, Muschamp doesn’t see that happening. “In the long run of winning the job, it certainly does [matter],’’ Muschamp said. “But it’s not going to be D-day. Right now it’s too close to call as far as the competition is concerned to take one day over the others. “Would it be important? Certainly.” Third-stringer Tyler Murphy continues to work behind Brissett and Driskel, and when fall camp starts, incoming freshman Skyler Mornhinweg will provide depth at the position.

Gator Basketball

Ode wants to give a big shout out to Coach Donovan and the Florida Men's Basketball team. Although we were disappointed when they lost to Louisville in the final eight, we are proud to have made the final eight in the first place.  

Coach Billy Donovan fought emotions when asked to assess his team’s season;“Because of them being great kids, it was great to see them mature and grow because you don’t get to this point in time unless you have some substance,” Donovan said. “This is life. When you pour your heart and soul into something and don’t get the results you want, you find out how important it is and you find out reasons why you do things, and can you come back with the same level of passion and enthusiasm and excitement to get better.” 

The hurt from this loss will subside in time, leaving a promising group of UF underclassmen, assuming the roster returns intact.