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OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Football loss can bring fans together

By Austin Shaw | Dec. 8, 2009

First and foremost, I am a huge supporter of all Gators athletics, and nothing disheartened me more than to see the team I root for every Saturday of the fall semester come up short in a high-stakes SEC Championship game. There were no promises to be delivered at the postgame press conference and there are zero weeks left for us to exonerate our loss. There will not be a new plaque to add to the South Endzone of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium reading “SEC Champs 2009,” Tim Tebow will not be the quarterback that wins three national championships and no one here in Gainesville will be heading to Pasadena, Calif., in January, unless they are visiting family.

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OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Alligator distorts meaning of Rebel flag

By Ian R. Moore | Dec. 8, 2009

The editorial “Road Rebel: Confederate plate no debate for state” struck me as a skewed and misinformed perception of what the Confederate flag or those who wish to fly it believe in. The fact that someone is willing to say “those who would buy it already have jacked-up pickups with mud tires…” shows that the only reason the confederate flag being flown is frowned upon is because of a large generalization to which the answer can be found in a middle school history class. The civil war was not fought on the grounds of “racism, bigotry and backward thought.”

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SPORTS  |  WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Florida falls to Rutgers on road

Dec. 7, 2009

If a game can be won in the first half, Rutgers did just that against Florida on Monday.

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SPORTS  |  COLUMNS

Surprising loss needed to gain perspective

Dec. 7, 2009

The Gators didn’t lose to Alabama on Saturday, they got beaten.

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SPORTS  |  FOOTBALL

Tebow one of five finalists invited to Heisman ceremony

By The Associated Press | Dec. 7, 2009

NEW YORK — Tim Tebow added another Heisman first to his long list of accomplishments just by being selected a finalist for this year’s trophy.

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SPORTS  |  OTHER SPORTS SWIM AND DIVE

Through Dark Waters: Senior Spofforth takes troubles in stride

By TONI-ANN MILLER | Dec. 7, 2009

Gemma Spofforth is undoubtedly a champion. She owns seven UF school records, four Southeastern Conference records, an NCAA record, a U.S. Open record, a world record and an Olympic appearance for her native Great Britain.

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SPORTS  |  MEN'S BASKETBALL

UF deals with injuries as top-10 matchup approaches

By ADAM BERRY | Dec. 7, 2009

The grueling portion of Florida’s early season schedule has taken its toll.

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SPORTS

Heisman Watch: Week 10

Dec. 7, 2009

Check out PDF attached.

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NEWS  |  SFC

Planetarium to host out-of-this-world daytime shows

By LONI CHASE | Dec. 7, 2009

Throughout finals week, Santa Fe College students will be able to kick back and gaze at the stars between exams.

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METRO

Local family chosen for home makeover

By NICOLE GREINER | Dec. 7, 2009

Residents of Northeast Seventh Street will see a bit of a change during the next week as “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” takes over the small neighborhood.

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NEWS  |  CAMPUS

Memorial honors UF student

By CAROLYN TILLO Alligator Writer | Dec. 7, 2009

The 22-year-old telecommunications senior, who died Nov. 30 from cystic fibrosis, cracked jokes with classmates, served as a foster parent for animals and raised awareness for the disease that slowly took her life.

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NEWS  |  CAMPUS

Graduate students to protest Reitz Union fee

By ELIZABETH BEHRMAN | Dec. 7, 2009

Members of Graduate Assistants United, a union that represents UF’s graduate assistants, are planning to speak at a the Board of Trustees meeting Friday. They will protest the addition of another fee to a growing list of student fees.

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Darts & Laurels

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Dec. 7, 2009

It’s not only the end of the week here at the Alligator, but the end of one great semester. We laughed, we cried... we got called names, and we cried some more (Well, a few made us laugh). But the saddest part of all is having to say goodbye.

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Fake Tans & Flip-Flops

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Dec. 7, 2009

Our glowing governor, Charlie Crist, is bent on convincing Floridians that his ultra-conservative views will save the country from financial ruin.

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OPINION  |  EDITORIALS

Re: Rights: Accuracy can prevent trivial technicalities

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Dec. 7, 2009

“You have the right — in your anxious and confused state — to try to figure out what rights you may or may not have by deciphering the ambiguous statement I am currently reading in a robot-like voice — as if my true intentions are not to inform you of anything, but rather to show my disdain for civil liberties and humanity in general.”

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OPINION  |  COLUMNS

First year doesn’t set tone for future

Dec. 7, 2009

A question for first-years here at UF: How was your semester?

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NEWS  |  CAMPUS

Engineering students create, show off low-budget robots

By MEAD BOWEN | Dec. 7, 2009

UF’s Intelligent Machines Design Laboratory students demonstrated their final projects at Monday’s Robot Demo Day at the Engineering Building, showing how college students with modest budgets can breathe life into metal and circuitry.

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NEWS  |  CAMPUS

UF graduate writes Gators rap song

By JOHN J. BOOTHE | Dec. 7, 2009

When Will Albury raps, he doesn’t talk about having loads of cash or driving lavish cars — he represents the orange and blue.

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NEWS  |  CAMPUS

Students toll Century Tower’s bells

By NICOLE LYNN GREINER | Dec. 7, 2009

Harold Rocha trudged up 193 stairsteps to the top of Century Tower.

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OPINION  |  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Column a ‘pick-me-up’ for readers

By Brad Bruggeman | Dec. 7, 2009

Throughout the semester, I’ve always looked forward to Wednesday’s column. The sardonic humor underlying Hilary Lehman’s commentary on anything from the benefits of being judgmental to the lack of literary merit in the “Twilight” series has always been a welcome Hump Day pick-me-up.