OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Airbrushed Reality
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Mar. 2, 2011Instant Photoshop is one step closer to reality, but hold off on the celebration.
Opinion
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Speak Your Mind: Court defends First Amendment
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Mar. 2, 2011When we first heard about the 8-1 Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church, we were confused. This ridiculous group protests outside military funerals, including the one in question held for Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, putting the families of the soldiers through more grief than necessary.
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Shooting still mentioned out of context a year later
By Jacob Rockwell | Mar. 2, 2011It’s one year later, and the Student Body still does not know all the facts behind the Kofi Adu-Brempong incident. But what we do know stinks to high heaven.
OPINION
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EDITORIALS
Asking Too Little: Bright Futures should up its standards
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Mar. 1, 2011Remember that 30 percent tuition increase UF President Bernie Machen proposed? It looks like that increase would hit students even harder because the Florida Legislature has to make cuts to Bright Futures after it convenes on March 8.
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Study abroad vibe available at home
By Wesley Campbell | Mar. 1, 2011Everyone wants to study abroad. You rarely come across anyone who looks back on their experience negatively. They have their stories, and when they recount one, there are smiles on their faces and a twinkles in their eyes that tell you how much they value those memories.
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Citizens never unanimous in support
By Lance Duff | Mar. 1, 2011Zack Smith made a great point in his Monday column, “Planned Parenthood’s funds need a trim.” Not everything the government pays for is supported by every citizen of this nation. I personally do not support the wars our country is currently fighting nor do I support giving tax exemption to churches.
OPINION
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Prioritizing organic foods for a budget
By Dimitri Blondel | Mar. 1, 2011Thanks 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
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Campaign funding decision benefits Republicans
By R. R. Renner | Feb. 28, 2011Zack 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
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EDITORIALS
Surgical Cuts: Proposed budget targets most vulnerable
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 28, 2011We’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
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Anti-Planned Parenthood arguments ridiculous
By Ariel Drescher | Feb. 28, 2011I 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
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COLUMNS
Chain looks to fix what isn’t broken
By Laura Ellermeyer | Feb. 28, 2011Starting 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
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COLUMNS
Planned Parenthood’s funds need trim
By Zack Smith | Feb. 27, 2011That 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
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COLUMNS
Do you really know what’s going on?
By Bob Minchin | Feb. 24, 2011We 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
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EDITORIALS
Focus is Overrated
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 23, 2011Too distracted to get that paper written in one sitting?
OPINION
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COLUMNS
Gator athletes deserve compensation for game likenesses
By Brett Wager | Feb. 23, 2011Over 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
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COLUMNS
Collective bargaining under pressure
By Chad Mohammed | Feb. 23, 2011The 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
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EDITORIALS
Joke’s on Us: Prank call raises questions about journalism
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 23, 2011Sure, 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
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EDITORIALS
Raving Mad: Libyan leader’s crimes difficult to punish
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 22, 2011Sorry, 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
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COLUMNS
Feeling emotion from statistics is difficult
By Wesley Campbell | Feb. 22, 2011We 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
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EDITORIALS
Weighty Issue
By The Alligator Editorial Board | Feb. 22, 2011You hit below the belt, Rush. Well, actually right at the waistline.
