2 - The Independent Florida Alligator

Florida’s youngest swimmers led the team in the second day of the Southeastern Conference Swimming Championships, but two reliable veterans once again made their mark.

SPORTS | GYMNASTICS

Second time around, Senior Night still special for Smith

By ALLISON BANKO | Feb. 17, 2011

Maranda Smith already bid her farewell to The Gator Nation.

SPORTS | SOFTBALL

Gators excited for home opener

By STEPHEN SHEEHAN< | Feb. 17, 2011

After beating up on the likes of Long Island and Jacksonville, the No. 5 Florida softball team will face its first real test tomorrow in its home opener against No. 22 North Carolina.

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS TENNIS

Lacroix struggling as nationals begin

By THOMAS NASSIFF< | Feb. 17, 2011

Since being named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 2, Alexandre Lacroix has struggled.

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS LACROSSE

Grabher, Hoyes make impact as freshmen

By JOHN BOOTHE< | Feb. 17, 2011

With only five players boasting collegiate experience last season, Florida’s freshmen didn’t have time for a learning curve.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Columnist overlooks recycling benefits

By Italo Lenta | Feb. 17, 2011

I was both disappointed and appalled to read Laura Ellermeyer’s column in Tuesday’s edition entitled, “Recycling proves wasteful in long term.” Leaving aside for the moment the fact that a first-year finance student such as Laura is entitled to hold whatever opinion she wants concerning recycling, I find it inexcusable that the Alligator would print such a socially and environmentally irresponsible article. First, it is a fact that recycling our cans, bottles, plastics and paper allows us to reuse our planet’s scarce resources over and over, thereby reducing the impact caused by the extraction of mineral, forest or petroleum products. Does Ellermeyer know that recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy used to produce those cans from scratch? That means you can make 20 cans out of recycled material with the same amount of energy it takes to make one can of new material. Energy savings from recycling cans in 1993 alone were enough to light a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years. It also takes water — a lot of water — to process raw aluminum into cans. Why should we willfully waste resources when we can easily conserve them?

NEWS | CAMPUS STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Student Government parties release election platforms

By ELIZABETH BEHRMAN | Feb. 17, 2011

With Student Government elections just days away, the Unite Party and the Progress Party are hitting the ground running with their campaigns.

NEWS | FEATURES

Local group will travel to Haiti to help those in need

By Kat Bein | Feb. 17, 2011

While some students choose are spending their Spring Break soaking in the debauchery of sun-kissed tourist destinations, David Ames is asking Gainesville residents to spend their break making a difference in the world.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll and engineer Norman Augustine speak at UF

By Joshua Jurnovoy | Feb. 17, 2011

Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll and Norman Augustine discussed ways to improve U.S. technological development.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Comparison shows ineffective spending

By Bob Minchin | Feb. 17, 2011

“Do it my way, or the government will be shut down!”

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Recycling more than a financial matter

By Brian McNab | Feb. 17, 2011

In response to Tuesday’s column by Laura Ellermeyer, a student of finance, I think she missed the potential of a further means of reducing the cost of waste management. She — as is appropriate for finance majors and the students of economics — is preoccupied with the ebb and flow of money, not with the conditions of the planet on which we live. She recommends not recycling because it will save money. Unfortunately, she did not go far enough. To further the reduction in cost, she should have advocated that we could save more money by just dumping our garbage into the streets, where the recycling will be done by dogs, raccoons, opossums and the poor. That way we could fire all of the people who cart away our garbage and sell the trucks that are used to other cities that are stupid enough to insist on recycling.

NEWS | CAMPUS

Minorities get sweet deal at bake sale

By Alex Orlando | Feb. 17, 2011

Cookies were going for cheap Thursday — that is, unless you’re white.

METRO

Commission approves plan for Koppers cleanup

By Meredith Rutland | Feb. 17, 2011

Take a 26-year problem that has frustrated city staff and citizens. Add a 703-page solution.What do you get?

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