Opinions - The Independent Florida Alligator

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Prioritizing organic foods for a budget

By Dimitri Blondel | Mar. 1, 2011

Thanks for printing Ashley Bray’s column on organic foods last week. It had some good advice, although I would argue that local production affects taste more so than choosing between organic and nonorganic. Nonetheless, I agree that the health benefits of organic food are worth striving for, and that those on a limited budget can employ a strategy of mixing organic and conventional, because eating all organic foods would be too expensive. For anyone wanting to try this, an invaluable tool is the “Dirty Dozen” list, which details the produce with the highest levels of pesticide residues.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Campaign funding decision benefits Republicans

By R. R. Renner | Feb. 28, 2011

Zack Smith concludes in his column published Feb. 21 that U.S. House Republicans voted to end the public funding of presidential campaigns because of its “unpopularity” and its waste of public funds.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Surgical Cuts: Proposed budget targets most vulnerable

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 28, 2011

We’ve been mentioning our governor’s proposed budget cuts here and there, but it’s time to get specific about people on the losing side. Of course, most organizations receiving government funding could be counted among the losers, but the money needs to be sheared from somewhere. We just don’t like that people who are already struggling may have their helping hands abandon them.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Anti-Planned Parenthood arguments ridiculous

By Ariel Drescher | Feb. 28, 2011

I just wanted to say “bravo!” to Zack Smith for his insightful column published Monday on why Planned Parenthood should lose its funding. His sleuthing uncovered the fact that even though absolutely zero government dollars spent on the organization go toward abortion services, some of the money they receive is instead being used on insidious programs like “sexuality education” and “public policy objectives.”

OPINION | COLUMNS

Chain looks to fix what isn’t broken

By Laura Ellermeyer | Feb. 28, 2011

Starting in March, Starbucks customers will experience a slight alteration to their experience in the form of an updated logo. Starbucks recently unveiled the design, which while not very different omits the text from the famous emblem.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Planned Parenthood’s funds need trim

By Zack Smith | Feb. 27, 2011

That name inevitably evokes a knee-jerk reaction from all who hear it. For some, it is an organization providing needed health services to men and women, while to others it is a force perpetuating one of the greatest moral crises of our time.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Do you really know what’s going on?

By Bob Minchin | Feb. 24, 2011

We have been bombarded lately with media reports about a wide range of spectacular events. Middle East unrest, budget crises, government shutdown warnings, pirate slayings and government officials on the run in the Midwest have captured the attention of all who keep even cursory tabs on the news.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Focus is Overrated

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 23, 2011

Too distracted to get that paper written in one sitting?

OPINION | COLUMNS

Gator athletes deserve compensation for game likenesses

By Brett Wager | Feb. 23, 2011

Over the past few decades, the market for video games in the United States has grown exponentially and has become a wildly successful and lucrative business within the entertainment industry. Sport video games have become a particularly flourishing genre of the industry and comprise approximately 15.3 percent of total game sales.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Collective bargaining under pressure

By Chad Mohammed | Feb. 23, 2011

The year 2011 certainly has been the year of the protestor, from Cairo to Yemen to — Wisconsin? In the past three weeks, Madison, Wis. has been the epicenter of a larger political schism in the works since November. As newly elected governors reveal their budgets, many Wisconsin Democrats and workers feel that the governors’ budgets focus more on excising the ability of unions to collectively bargain, a right that ironically originated in their own state.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Joke’s on Us: Prank call raises questions about journalism

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 23, 2011

Sure, Ian Murphy, the editor of the Buffalo Beast, got some interesting information out of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. The problem is most journalism organizations don’t qualify prank calls as a method of gaining information. Murphy’s call wasn’t exactly the grown-up version of “Is your refrigerator running?” He impersonated one of the governor’s top financial supporters, billionaire David Koch. From his 20-minute conversation, he fished out information on how Gov. Walker was planning to bring the Democrats back into the state.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Raving Mad: Libyan leader’s crimes difficult to punish

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 22, 2011

Sorry, Bahrain. While your protestors have a righteous cause in overthrowing one of the few absolute monarchies left in the world, you can’t beat crazy.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Feeling emotion from statistics is difficult

By Wesley Campbell | Feb. 22, 2011

We have a strange way of looking at tragedy and what’s important. It is our nature to be unconcerned about issues that do not directly affect us. I don’t know which is worse – the people who display complete ignorance of how their actions today will change the future, clinging to antiquated views through a misguided notion that to “stick to your guns” is a virtue despite new evidence, or whiny, liberal types who only care about issues as long as the problem doesn’t reach their doorsteps.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Weighty Issue

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 22, 2011

You hit below the belt, Rush. Well, actually right at the waistline.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Social network gains staying power

By Laura Ellermeyer | Feb. 21, 2011

In high school, our designated picture taker was Katie. Pictures were a must, and somebody had to take on the burden of snapping all the photos we’d instantly upload to Facebook and comment on for weeks. Katie never complained; in fact, she enjoyed it to a point it could get annoying.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

American Lit 3-D: Film gimmick has no place in some films

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 21, 2011

We’ve already established that we’re a little old-school with our love for physical books. While we learn to slowly embrace the digital reading revolution, we’ve overlooked another change. The influx of 3-D movies has been well-documented and discussed, but for the most part we haven’t worried about the reasoning behind the fad. If filmmakers want us to feel like those action-movie explosions are happening in our faces, so be it.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Cheeseheads United

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 21, 2011

The Wisconsin union crisis took us by surprise.

OPINION | COLUMNS

Quiet de-funding presidential elections

By Zack Smith | Feb. 20, 2011

With Big Bird facing extinction, the federal government on the verge of a shutdown and protests rocking the Middle East as well as our own state capitols, a hallmark of our electoral system for the past quarter of a century was quietly slated for the death chamber.

OPINION | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Racial profiling a necessary evil

By Ryan Scheb | Feb. 17, 2011

In a letter to the editor published Thursday, the concept of racial profiling is mentioned in conjunction with the evilness of the Republican Party and its opposition to affirmative action. While I realize I won’t make many friends with this argument, I have no problem with racial profiling. Is it ideal? Absolutely not. In an ideal world, every single person would be treated the same in every situation. However, that is simply unrealistic; thus, I believe racial profiling to be a necessary evil.

OPINION | EDITORIALS

Darts and Laurels

By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 17, 2011

Forgive us if we’re not as chipper as usual.