2 - The Independent Florida Alligator

Things couldn’t have been much worse for Alabama, which was in the basement of the Southeastern Conference, heading into its game against Florida on Thursday.

SPORTS | COLUMNS

Stacked recruiting classes make transfers inevitable

By CALLOVI< | Jan. 21, 2010

Every year the Gators bring in a recruiting class filled with talented prospects, often with many at the same position.

SPORTS | GYMNASTICS

Gators look for first road win

By TOM GREEN< | Jan. 21, 2010

After notching their first win of the season last week, the Gators are out to prove just how good they can be.

SPORTS | FOOTBALL

UF lands former Tennessee commit

By JAIME MANHEIMER | Jan. 21, 2010

Lane Kiffin’s departure from Tennessee to USC certainly doesn’t hurt UF’s recruiting class, but the Gators didn’t really need the help.

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS TENNIS

UF men look to continue dominance over UCF; women take on North Texas

By ANDREW OLSON < | Jan. 21, 2010

The Gators men’s tennis team opens its spring dual match season against in-state competition at home and then hit the road for an early season out-of-conference.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Indiana prof. discusses effect of images on people

By KATIE FINNEY | Jan. 21, 2010

To many Americans, iconic images like the fall of the Berlin Wall symbolize change in regime.

METRO | CITY COUNTY COMMISSION

City struggles to set start date of Superfund cleanup

By JIMMIE PAUL | Jan. 21, 2010

The Gainesville City Commission continues to debate the start date for the cleanup efforts of the Koppers Inc. industrial site.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Student events to benefit Haiti

By ELIZABETH BEHRMAN | Jan. 21, 2010

For UF students, fundraising for Haiti this weekend may be as simple as eating pancakes, listening to music or attending a gala.

METRO

Lowe's office opens

By SAMANTHA DELGADO | Jan. 21, 2010

He’s been the Gainesville City Commissioner since 2003, but tonight Craig Lowe is taking another step in his climb up the political ladder.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Supreme Court decision has grim implications for Americans

By JAMES CHAPIN | Jan. 21, 2010

Some people believe that Tuesday’s Republican victory in Massachusetts, which may have cut the throat of health care reform, was big news. I beg to differ. The big news came out of a large room holding nine small people and a few witnesses on Thursday afternoon. It was doomsday for the individual in American politics. The Supreme Court decided on Thursday that corporations and unions are no longer beholden to the rules that had limited their spending on federal elections. Remember that date. Because the gargantuan coffers of those corporations and unions are now open very, very wide, and the words “shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech” have led to some very murky consequences. Justice John Paul Stevens read a long, lonely dissent from the bench. He called the decision “a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have ... fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the time of Theodore Roosevelt.”

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Sex column misses mark

By SAM LEWIS | Jan. 21, 2010

Editor’s note: This letter was written in response to Thursday’s sex column. To read the column, visit alligator.org/the_avenue

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Darts and Laurels

By Alligator Editorial Board | Jan. 21, 2010

We’re not sure about you, but the Editorial Board is certainly glad to see it’s almost the weekend. We’re already annoyed, pissed off and just plain exhausted. So why don’t we skip the formalities and go right to Darts & Laurels

OPINION | COLUMNS

America should rid itself of gun use

By PAUL MURTY | Jan. 21, 2010

30,364 vs. 210. Obviously, 30,364 is a much greater number than 210. Sadly, the former amount represents the number of gun-related deaths, including homicides, suicides and accidental deaths, in the United States in 2005. According to a blog post from the New England Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, 210 is an extrapolated figure that represents the number of gun-related deaths in the United Kingdom if its population was equal to the United States. In reality, there are only 42 gun-related deaths per year in the U.K., according to the blog.

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