In the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the nation’s attention has turned to the issue of police brutality. The problem of abuse and excessive force by law enforcement also extends to America’s prison system. Nowhere is inmate abuse more evident and prevalent than in Florida.
Last week, former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was convicted of corruption. McDonnell was once a shining star in the Republican Party and was a potential 2012 running mate for Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
Sunday night, a string of texts lit up on my phone. As soon as I saw the short UF Alert number, I knew — dreading it, but knowing it — another case of battery had just been reported to the police.
Low voter turnout has been a prominent feature of American elections for the last several decades. In the 2012 election, only about two-thirds of all voters cast ballots.
The removal of Steven Salaita, a tenured professor at the University of Illinois, for his tweets in support of Palestine should be of great concern to those who value academic freedom at American universities. Salaita had been offered a job as a tenured professor of American Indian studies, and his appointment was contingent on approval by the University of Illinois’s Board of Trustees. The university chancellor, Phyllis Wise, refused to forward Salaita’s appointment to the board.
There’s a common trope in the conservative movement that liberals control American schools and use them to brainwash and indoctrinate impressionable American youth.
With the rise of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a Sunni jihadist group in the Middle East that is labeled as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. and many other nations, the entire world is on high alert, waiting for whatever barbaric action the group has planned next.
The Internet is a powerful tool of democracy that provides diverse groups of people with an open and equal platform to communicate, share information and express their views. Net neutrality, a concept that has come under fire in recent years, is the principle protecting these essential aspects of the Internet.
I was taken aback by the recent open letter to UF President Bernie Machen in this past week’s Alligator. In it, the author condemns Machen’s proclamation, "I believe the entire University of Florida community holds academic freedom to be a cherished principle that advances the interests of society," and challenges our president to use boycotts as the model for academic integrity.
The big story at UF this week was the cancellation of the inaugural game of the 2014 Gator football season against Idaho. After hours of lightning delays, Gator fans got a small, exciting taste of the upcoming season when Valdez Showers — how appropriate — ran back the opening kickoff for 64 yards. Unfortunately, the game was immediately postponed, and eventually canceled, after more lightning was spotted nearby. For making The Gator Nation wait a whole extra week to start the football season, we give a really-bad-timing DART to Florida thunderstorms.
I can’t stand numbers, and for good reason.
There’s an old Japanese proverb that says, "When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends."
Two members of Florida’s congressional delegation, Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen have gained reputations during their time in office for speaking out forcefully and frequently against communism, particularly the Fidel Castro regime in Cuba.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees every American freedom of religion.
In recent days and weeks, a number of female celebrities have had their phones hacked, which has resulted in private nude pictures of them being plastered far and wide across the Internet.
When Nicki Minaj released the cover art for her new single, “Anaconda,” the world eagerly awaited the release of the accompanying music video.
As the school year begins, UF students are preparing for the upcoming football season, the Greek fraternities and sororities are gearing up for Recruitment Week, and eager freshmen are stumbling through campus adorned with their Preview lanyards.
In my three years at UF, diversity has been at the center of my experience. I participated in the Gatorship retreat my freshman year and learned how to make campus more inclusive.
In the 2010 case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations, for all intents and purposes, are human beings with the same rights as any American citizen. Citizens United and the recent Hobby Lobby case established that corporations are protected by the First Amendment, with both freedom of speech and religion.
Fashion retailer Zara made headlines last week when it pulled a children’s shirt from its stores.
Solutions by The State News
