I’ve become more irate over a populist cause as of late: the excessive taxes on cigarette smokers.

Full disclosure, as unfortunate as it may be, I myself, am a smoker – although, I have assured myself I am quitting soon.

Unable to keep the streak alive, UNF baseball lost to No. 23 Florida 5-3, March 25, allowing Florida to even up the two-game series on the year.

March 9 – Information (Building 53) – Rescue 50 responded to a UNF employee who began to display seizure-like symptoms. She was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital for medical evaluation.

March 9 – Criminal Mischief (Lot 17) – A Parking Services employee observed a smashed window on a parked vehicle.

March 10 – Criminal Mischief (Lot 17) – A student found her car dented in the passenger door and chipped paint. An investigation showed it had been struck with rocks.
March 10 – Lost property (Alumni Hall) – A UNF employee …

UNF men’s basketball head coach Matt Kilcullen has been fired from his position as head coach, and Athletic Director Lee Moon has begun searching for his replacement.
Moon announced March 16 that the university would not be continuing Kilcullen’s contract, hoping to revamp the UNF basketball program to be a contender in the Atlantic-Sun conference next season.
Moon believes Kilcullen is still a huge asset to UNF athletics, and he is in the process of creating a new position for Kilcullen to fill in the Athletics Department, said Shawn Lafata, interim …

The new amphitheater might trump the Green and prove to be the ultimate battleground next year as the civil skirmish between students and faculty continues regarding campus-wide sound restrictions.
The amplified sound policy has been a topic of discussion at Faculty Association meetings, and recently, the Faculty Affairs Committee determined the current policy is not being applied consistently, as teachers have complained about noise during class times.
“It’s not so much the events we object to, [but] we have difficulty when those events conflict with classroom teaching,” said Judith Solano, a …

A household with someone disabled earns a median annual income that’s $22,600 less than one without disabled members, according to Cornell University’s 2007 Disability Status Report.
But a pilot program called Building Economic Strength Together hopes to change that  with a series of six two-hour financial literacy workshops at UNF and other networks providing disability assistance in the community such as the Arch of Jacksonville and the Wounded Warrior veterans’ program.
BEST came to UNF for the university’s On Campus Transition program, which was recommended by the Arch of Jacksonville. OCT helps …

Work on your relationships
A new workshop titled “How to Make Your Relationship Last a Lifetime” is scheduled March 26 in Building 39, room 4029 from 3 to 4 p.m. The program continues each Thursday for five weeks. For more information, contact Pat Moore at pmoore@unf.edu or 620-2602.
Golden Key seeks members
The Golden Key International Honor Society encourages
all sophomores with a GPA of 3.5 or above to attend an informational club meeting from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m March 26 in the Robinson Center.
Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Nicole Lunn …

AROUND THE STATE
Pollution expected to decline despite increase in traffic
Jacksonville’s air pollution from traffic is expected to fall by 2020 despite a trucking boom fueled by the recent growth of JaxPort, a city agency said March 24.
The performance of newer vehicles built to meet tougher emissions standards will lead to dropped pollution levels.
Although the expansion of JaxPort is expected to add 7,000 trucks per day to Florida 9A, Jacksonville’s Environmental Quality Division said in a recent report that the cleaner new vehicles could easily offset that and cut total highway …

Florida is one of two states in the U.S. with high-need school districts, and Duval County is one of nine counties with these districts, according to the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence.
But a program exists to help these high-need districts, serving the low-income population where 40 percent or more of the students qualify for free or reduced cost lunch.
Teach & Inspire is a non-profit program funded by the federal government for anyone who wants to teach and has a non-education bachelor’s degree, said Najia Husseini, program coordinator for …