I am writing to express my strong condemnation of the current massacre being perpetrated against the Bahraini people by Bahraini, Emirati and Saudi armed forces with tacit approval of our government.
Spring‘s officially underway, Gators. With Sunday evening’s equinox in the books, we’re prepared to enjoy our weekend or two with decent weather before our sidewalks turn into lava flows.
As President Obama’s approval ratings continue to fall and he amasses more enemies on both sides of the aisle in response to his invasion of Libya, I am reminded of perhaps the most telling and haunting moment of the 2008 presidential election coverage.
It looks like we won’t be able to park ourselves in front of our computer and read whatever books we feel like for days on end. That’s what we had planned if Google got its way and started to fulfill its goal of scanning all the books the world has to offer.
The devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami that struck Japan earlier this month reminded us all of the ever-present danger of natural disasters and, more importantly, of the need for us to be as well prepared for them as possible — both as a society and as individuals.
As a biochemistry student at UF, I found Zack Smith’s opinion column Monday disheartening.
The idea of screening welfare candidates and recipients for drugs didn’t come out of the blue. Gov. Rick Scott hinted at it during his campaign. In fact, it was one of the few things we thought Scott was on the right track with.
Have you ever seen one of those photo montages that show someone’s face holding the same angle and expression relentlessly, regardless of where and when the photo was taken?
After a weekend that saw numerous powerhouses get smacked down by teams ranging from the Spiders to the “whointhehell?”, the Gators lived up to expectations and their inflated seeding, pounding the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos to within an inch of their lives before sliding by UCLA and into the Sweet 16 (or the “fourth round” for those unwilling to infringe on new tradition grounded in irrationality.)
It sometimes seems that high school curricula and “When am I ever gonna use this crap?” go hand in hand. Elective requirements in high school may seem like funny time wasters (I carried a fake baby around for a week and loved every second of it), but as we neared graduation, we looked forward to the end of electives and fixed our gazes on more serious coursework that was actually relevant to a topic and career we chose.
The rhetoric used by Zack Smith in Monday’s column is overused and deceptive. Sadly, however, it tends to work. He starts by
Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” was published in 1859, and the theory that life on Earth is in a constant state of evolution was around even before that. What columnist Zack Smith seems unable to grasp is the fact that the theory of evolution has, in fact, been subject to “critical analysis” for 150 years and has been proven every time.
The current military action in Libya is not the same as the Iraq War. Plain and simple. In 2002 and 2003, the United States cooked up a reason to go to war based on faulty intelligence and post-9/11 hysteria. The U.S. went to the U.N., couldn’t get a military resolution, and we invaded Iraq anyway. In Libya’s case, the U.S. and our allies are riding with our allies in NATO on the back of a U.N. Security Council resolution.
Nearly everyone agrees that critical thinking is a skill essential for children to develop as early as possible.
First off, I must say I generally don’t read Tiffany Miles’ letters because, overall, I find their content to be dull and presented in a condescending manner.
There are moments in time when I am immensely proud to be a Florida Gator. Thursday was one of them. No, it wasn’t due to many students’ impressive performances on St. Patty’s Day. It wasn’t even due to our dominance in basketball. It was due to the sight I witnessed at the candlelight vigil in commemoration of the disaster in Japan. Hundreds of students sat huddled in the Reitz Union Amphitheatre. There were students from all communities and cliques. Unity prevailed as all the students joined in praying for those affected by the tragedy and committing to doing all they can to help. We heard emotional tales of those here who know individuals who lost their homes and even their lives. Though the words were in Japanese, the emotion transcended language and generated compassion from all in attendance.
The president must understand our fears about the situation in Libya. Why else would he stress his understanding of the risks of any military action? Why would he emphasize and repeat his intentions of keeping U.S. troops off Libyan soil? Obama is seeing what we’re seeing — a frighteningly familiar scenario of international forces intervening in a country on the brink, complete with the undertones of terrorism and the memorable words of a crazy dictator. We’ve seen this movie before, and we know how it goes. Or do we?
While the Florida ticketing office may find it surprising that their 75 student tickets allotted for the UCSB and UCLA games didn’t sell out, I’m certainly not. Expecting students to pay $154 up front to watch the Gauchos and Bruins is asinine.
The economy is in the tank. Unemployment is stagnant. The budget crisis has brought us to the brink of a government shutdown. Libya is burning, and Egypt is still in turmoil.
We expect half of our readers will have a massive hangover when they see this, so we’ll make it short.
Solutions by The State News
